By Nerub
by Enendar
Summary: The story of a corrupt and greedy blood elf who casts aside his friends in pursuit of his 'destiny' and then learns through the dark but lawful society of the nerubians that the greed and pride of blood elves are traits best left forsaken.
1. Sculpting a perfect love

"Just a little… my name is… I am… I was a blood elf… Am I to suffer?... When do I stop being the end of the joke? Cease this madness! So perfect; a perfect vessel! I will burn my suffering into your soul! Why did you run? No! How did you get here?! I don't just care for myself! Stay with me! I've already given you some magic. I'll not lose you as I lost my… old… friends. Don't go! Damn it! Aaah, nothing makes the day go faster. Is this all I am? My power… my greed… my lust."

**Chapter 1: Sculpting a perfect love**

"Just a little to the left." Ranilok slowly and accurately manipulated a piece of a large set of Itjahzi crystals.

Itjahzi crystals were a sort of ore from the nerubian kingdom of Nerub'Itjahz in Northrend. The kingdom existed below the Great Dragonblight, and as the magic of dying dragons seeped into the ground, it coalesced into the crystals. Nerubians in the kingdom used the crystals for enchantments, lighting, attacking; the very lifestyle of the nerubians in the colony revolved around the possession of the crystals.

Ranilok had made several trips to Nerub'Itjahz; as a mage, the magic within the crystals appealed to him. It was not his privilege to possess the crystals; he was not a nerubian. Being a tailor, however, it was his privilege to make bags that held seemingly endless amounts.

Greed compelled Ranilok; he had stolen nearly an entire vault of the crystals in what appeared to be a small change purse on his last visit. Although the nerubians had tolerated his presence in the name of one of his companions, this act had gained him their eternal hatred. Every selfless deed that the elf had performed was washed away by his lust for power.

In the end, it was all in pursuit of her. The culmination of his greed was a woman whose heart belonged to someone else; his best and only friend at the time. Her name was Arisia; a high elf from the same town as he. Though he had considered her plain and inward turned when he left to adventure on the icy continent, he saw her as the fairest and bravest of the women he had known by the time he had reached Nerub'Itjahz with her and several companions. His friend, Methuselah, was a human, which made him even more confused and angry when Arisia chose Methuselah over him. Even after he was selfless enough to return to Northrend and search for Methuselah, he still held the ulterior motive of finding more crystals. People liked him when he gave them crystals; the little items made him so powerful. Methuselah had potentially sacrificed himself to save Ranilok and Arisia, but Ranilok still tried his best to keep the lovers apart in hopes that one day Arisia might fall for him instead. Even after Methuselah had died and been reborn as the undead, Maldelic, he still searched for his love. Despite Ranilok's attempts, he failed miserably at keeping them apart.

Maldelic had once said to Ranilok, as he threatened the blood elf's life unless the blood elf would release the location of Arisia to him, 'How about you make a woman out of Itjahzi crystals? Dark lady knows it would fit your personality and you probably have enough of those things to do it.'. Sharply insulted, Ranilok still hoped that Arisia would reject Maldelic for being undead. Through the power of the dragons that had once hurt Ranilok for his unending love of magic, Maldelic was cured of his undeath and turned into the blood elf Mithelidan by that same magic. In Ranilok's view, Methuselah had now completely usurped him. For so long he believed that perhaps Arisia just liked humans more, but now she loved a blood elf even though his soul was the same soul of her human lover. Ranilok would never find a place at her side.

"No longer!" Ranilok proclaimed as he stepped back from his work for a moment. "It is my destiny to not be alone! The world will no longer keep me from my destiny!"

The final touches were all that remained on Ranilok's creation. In making it, he had consumed nearly a quarter of his supply of Itjahzi crystals. Being the only blood elf that had been to Nerub'Itjahz, he was the source of a limited amount of Itjahzi crystals that some of the grandest magistrates of Silvermoon possessed. The magic of the crystals was eternal, so the mages and magistrates that owned an Itjahzi crystal were able to halt their slow descent down the demonic path of a blood elf. The 'discovery' of Itjahzi crystals had gained Ranilok a presence in Silvermoon and a position as a researcher in the Sunspire. Unfortunately, it was that presence in his opinion that drew Maldelic to him and ultimately caused him to lose Arisia. He was no longer welcome in Silvermoon now; he had stopped giving out crystals when he began to work on the creation that was now nearing completion. Having relocated to a small house in the mountains northwest of Tranquillen and inside the Runestone border, he worked day and night to perfect his project.

"You'll be perfect, better than Arisia ever could be." Ranilok reassured himself as he used his vast knowledge of the arcane to manipulate the figure that stood on a pedestal in the center of his home.

To any bystander, the figure looked like a deep sapphire statue of a female elf. The magistrates of Silvermoon would have objected because the statue was naked, but such art styles were becoming more accepted in such a progressive day and age. It was truly a movement for elf society to ally themselves with trolls and orcs. To Ranilok, the statue was so much more; an embodiment of his destiny. He would become god-like in his mind, someone that created life as the titans had in the lore of Uldaman.

A knock came to the door, causing Ranilok to smudge the piece he was working on. Cursing the fates for having someone disturb him, he quickly covered the statue with a large muslin blanket. Opening the door, half expecting to find a disgruntled magistrate looking for a tiny bit of crystal, Ranilok was met by the cheery face of Lily, the girl who delivered food to his house.

Trying to change from a grimace of the smudge to a smile for the elf girl, Ranilok spoke quickly. "Oh… is it that time of the week already? I'd lost track."

"Yes, sir, your order is larger this time. It took me a bit longer to get it here actually." Lily looked down with regret.

"Rightly so, your pay will be larger to reflect the delivered goods." Ranilok paid the girl, wanting to return to his work.

"May I ask why?" Lily inquired, knowing one person could not eat that much food in a week.

"I'm sorry, but you may not." Ranilok began to close the door.

"Oh no, I apologize, go with the…" the she-elf was met quickly with the door before she could finish her sentence. "…sun." Frowning at her part-time employer seeming so irked, she left and hoped he would be better the next week.

Rushing back to the statue, Ranilok corrected the mistake that he had made and continued to work. He admired every part of the statue, more than he could even admire himself in the mirror. He wondered if this was love, considering if all creators loved their creations; did the titans love the earthen? Before he could think for too long, the door was disturbed again by a heavy knocking, a panting noise came from outside. Heading to the door again, Ranilok was met by the frightful sight of a wretched. The horrid beast stood before him and stared at him with hollow and mana-hungry eyes.

"You… I've found you. You're the one that has the crystals! Aghaghaghaghagh." The wretched made a sort of excited hacking cough.

"Magistrate Vel'Jonnesy?" Ranilok was thoroughly taken aback by the sight of the elf that had succumbed to the madness of magical addiction.

"They called me that once… now they call me slime. Give me what I want!" Jonnesy demanded.

"And what is that, slime?" Ranilok stepped back slightly.

"I s… said the crystals! Aghaghaghaghhh. At least give me some arcane powder. You know we are the same, you just have a crystal! Give me a crystal! I could get better from this… from what I've become." The wretched begged.

"Fine, I'll give you some magic." Ranilok waved his hands.

Eyes lighting up like a young child, the wretched spoke joyfully. "You will? Please let it be an Itjahzi crystal!"

"I've already given you some magic… I think you'll like it." Ranilok alluded as he shut the door in the beast's face.

"Where? Where, gracious master? I don't see it!" the wretched looked around and saw smoke. Noticing that he was on fire, he screamed. "Someone put it out! Put it out! Aghaghaghagh" he ran around wildly before expiring off to the side of the path, burned to a husk.

Ranilok looked out of the window and chuckled. He almost pitied the wretched, but not really. "Fool, you cannot match the might of the blood elves." The mage congratulated himself as he felt a small twinge in the back of his neck. Taking out a case from his robes, Ranilok rolled up a piece of parchment and sniffed up a small line of arcane powder from the case. "Aaaah. Nothing makes the day go faster."

Before an hour had passed, a third distraction came. Ranilok took the time to cover the statue this time and hoped that it was not another wretched at the door.

As the door swung open, Ranilok had to look downward to greet the guest. "Aaah, Gevran! You've made it!" The elf exclaimed.

"Aye, not easily, sonny." The dwarf that had come to visit held up a bag of scrolls. "These are the diagrams ye wanted. We dinnae need em anymore in Aerie Peak now that ye gone and joined the horde."

"Good, Good." Ranilok ignored the comment on the horde. "Here's the pay for your trouble." Ranilok handed a large bag of coins to the dwarf just as he had to the delivery girl.

"Aren't ye gonna invite me in, sonny? Ye took enough lengths tae deliver that letter. Nae one hae contacted me since ae left Arisia about five years ago." Gevran nearly had to stick his foot in the door to halt its closing.

"I suppose." Ranilok let the door loose and stowed the diagrams in his personal chest, locking it before he returned and set food and drink out for Gevran.

"It's hard tae get intae Quel'thalas this far naedays. All the blood elves feelin betrayed by the alliance an such. Ye be lucky that ae got 'ere in one piece, sae it only be fittin that we sit down tae eat an drink. Ae dinnae come out here tae turn right around." Gevran explained.

"Well, yes. I suppose I've just been absorbed in my work. I was on a roll of sorts. Perhaps I am destined to not finish today; I've been disturbed twice already." Ranilok lamented.

"Ae hope this disturbin wae worth it. Nae what ye doin with elf medical scrolls? Tae sketches in thar be fer physicians… nae even we priests use things like that." Gevran questioned.

"I'd really prefer not to talk about it." Ranilok tried to ward the dwarf off.

Leaning in as if it was a private discussion in a public place, Gevran whispered. "Ye be sick? Ae swear ae can cure any disease ye may have."

Shaking his head vehemently, Ranilok shrugged it off. "No, I'm not sick."

"Then whit could it be?" Gevran wanted to know so much that he ignored Ranilok's wish not to speak of it.

"You know, Methuselah survived… sort of." Ranilok changed the subject, as uncomfortable as he was with talking about Methuselah.

"Really?" Gevran leaned forwards again excitedly. "How'd he manage that?"

Almost in a trance thinking of his own defeat concerning Arisia, Ranilok continued. "He's a blood elf now; Mithelidan. He died and was undead for a while… then Malygos remade him as an elf."

"Nae that's ae wonder tae see. Aet only makes sense, nae Arisia won't be outlivin' him. Can ye tell me where he lives?" Gevran asked.

"Out on the coast. You shouldn't have much trouble finding him or reaching him." Ranilok hoped that the announcement would draw Gevran to leave the house.

"Ae'll have tae gae see 'em. Nae what about those diagrams?" Gevran easily got back on topic.

"Do we really have to talk about those?" Ranilok stressed, annoyed that his ploy hadn't worked.

"What's the big deal on em? We been through Northrend maer than once, what could be worse than what we hae seen there?" Gevran pried, trying to trivialize the matter.

"Fine… I'll let you know. You must promise not to object to it." Ranilok got up and headed towards the muslin sheet. Perhaps he could gain an ally in doing this.

"Aye, Ae'll try." Gevran took a deep drink, preparing for the worst.

Unveiling the statue, Ranilok stepped back reverently. Gevran had been one of the five that had survived the destruction of the Northrend caravan along with Ranilok, Methuselah at the time, and Arisia. He had been to Nerub'Itjahz with them and so he easily recognized that the statue was made of Itjahzi crystals. The dwarf was astounded by the quality and scale of the work.

"Where did ye get all those Itjahzi crystals, sonny? Neru'Rekan had em off limits." Gevran said slowly. Neru'Rekan was the nerubian who had so graciously allowed them into Nerub'Itjahz during their journey.

Taking a moment to formulate a response, Ranilok tried to smooth the question over. "I've found my ways to gain them."

"So ye stole em, ok. But why gae inta such detail as internal makings on that thing? Thae scrolls have this thing thae physicians call anatomy on em. Ae never believed in em maeself; thae light heals all.

"I take pride in my work. I take pride that I can make something so lifelike, so perfect. She'll be my joy, and my destiny." Ranilok spoke of the wonders of his creation.

Realizing what Ranilok was getting at, Gevran's face filled with dread. "Ranilok… ye're trying tae mess with things beyond us. Ye dun know what ye're getting into."

"And you said you wouldn't object to it. If you are going to try to separate me from my destiny, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Ranilok turned away from his 'friend' and looked at the statue.

"This isn't fate, aet's madness! We aren't meant tae meddle in such things." Gevran warned Ranilok once more.

"I suppose friendships are only as deep as actions then." Ranilok called their friendship into question.

"Ae's wasn't going tae bring thaet up. Are ye trying tae put off everyone ye ever knew in persuit ae dis madness?" Gevran looked down sadly as he headed for the door.

"In the times to come, people will either be my ally or my enemy. If you can't see what I see, then you are no longer welcome in our life… the life I will share with her." Ranilok spoke with reference to the statue.

Turning his head towards Ranilok with regret, Gevran crossed the threshold and said his goodbyes. "Ae'm sorry that ae gave ye those scrolls; ae want nae part in this madness. Perhaps if ye lose enough friends ye'll learn something. Ye won't be seein me around 'ere any longer."

"I don't care. All I need is her… all I want is her." Ranilok closed the door quickly behind the dwarf. "Now… back to work!" the elf barred the door and fetched the medical diagrams.

Using the most microscopic movements of magic, Ranilok changed the crystal to mimic the inner tissues and organs of an elf. He had worked for so long that his skill was not to be doubted. Every detail had to be perfect; not just correct. In his eyes, a great divide separated the two states. Often, he imagined what his life might soon be like; the aspect that would change with triumphantly taking on another.

"Now this… is truly perfection!" Ranilok complemented himself as he began to cast spells to make the positions of the crystals permanent. It was dark outside now, the magic made blue and purple lights radiate from the windows. "Every curve, every strand of hair."

The crystals joined easily into the solid structure that he desired; the greatest artists would call it beyond them and even mountain giants would be unable to shatter the crystalline construct.

Ranilok pondered as he looked over his work. "Now how will I introduce myself." He thought aloud. "'Hi… my name is Ranilok' No no no, that's too simple. 'Hello, m'lady. I am the magnificent blood elf, Ranilok. It is I who have brought you into this world.' No, too bravado. 'Greetings… my love… I am Ranilok, and I am your creator.' Yes, that might work."

Deciding not to wait any longer, Ranilok went to the door and checked to make sure it was still securely barred. Looking up at the statue of the woman that he had created, he removed a few more Ithahzi crystals from his bag and began to channel their power into the statue. The room filled with a light matching the eerie blue color of the crystals; it looked much like the lighting in Nerub'Itjahz.

"The power of the crystals when returned to their raw magical form is unsurpassed." Ranilok mused. "I'll give you their power… the power of the dragonflights!"

Ranilok continued to channel for some time, diluting the crystals into the statue. The process of unpacking so much magic took several hours, but he kept at it ardently, not even taking a bit of it for himself. He kept reciting to himself as he drained crystal after crystal 'more energy… she just needs more energy'. As he neared the end of draining a crystal from the handful he had drawn out, what he had waited for suddenly happened. A massive arcane explosion shook the house and blew Ranilok back on to his bed. The elf quickly righted himself and rushed to see that his love was ok. The arms had moved from the posed position to a slumped position as the statue shook on the pedestal.

"What is this? This doesn't agree with my scenario!" Ranilok spoke in an exasperated fashion, but quickly moved and caught the statue as it fell forwards from the pedestal.

The figure was lifeless, but its skin had become flexible and true; as if real tissue and muscles had replaced the crystal… or the crystal had become them. The feel of the soft skin, despite its deep ocean blue color, entranced Ranilok. Even though the crystals had great weight, the figure that Ranilok now held weighed no more than a real woman. With great care, Ranilok placed the figure on his bed and checked to see if it was breathing. The woman was not breathing or moving, but Ranilok could tell that his creation was not dead; it was incomplete. After being distracted by the fact that the statue was not clothed and was extremely lifelike in every way, he tried to consider what went wrong.

"Everything is so perfect… a true body. What is missing?" Ranilok looked to the female figure on the bed. "I am sure I could do something."

Using his power, Ranilok slowly made the arm of the body levitate. "Ah-ha, there is something." Slowly, Ranilok stepped back from the bed and made the figure stand and move. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Ranilok made the figure dance around the room, however its eyes and mouth remained shut and unmovable; as if it were in a deep sleep. Ranilok's task would not be easy; whatever secrets this new life-form held were locked as deep as the mystery of why it even lived in the first place.


	2. Soul Searching

**Chapter 2: Soul Searching**

After hours of making the lifeless body move and dance about the room, Ranilok set it down dejectedly on the bed. He sat on the bed and straightened out the position that the statue lay in then thought again about what he had done.

"This isn't what I intended." Ranilok frowned. "There's still something missing."

With great care, Ranilok placed the statue under the covers of the bed and climbed in beside it. Turning to the figure, he spoke. "I swear that I'll find what's missing, my love." Ranilok promised as he went to sleep beside the statue.

That night, Ranilok's mind was drawn back to the icy caves of Nerub'Itjahz, where he remembered a conversation held between Neru'Rekan and the undead body of Methuselah that had come to call himself Maldelic.

_"I can explain that.__Neru'Rekan__ stepped towards __Maldelic__. "You exhibit the symptoms of anyone who has sold their soul; a foolish thing a warlock can do when they run out of other souls to trade." The spider looked about to begin a long speech. "An entity is made of three parts, a soul, a body, and a will."_

_Interrupting, __Maldelic__ spoke. "So you're saying I have no soul? Instead of fritting it away it was taken from me?" _

_Grumbling, __Neru'Rekan__ continued his speech. "The body is physical while the soul and will are metaphysical. A soul is composed of memories, the moments that remain in your mind for you to make decisions upon and base the other metaph__ysical part of your being upon. __The body is simply a vessel; nothing more.__ The body__ is what anchors you to the mortal plane and provides the energy to sustain your being. This crystal is a vessel." The spider tapped on the shape that cont__ained Methuselah. "Being magical__ in nature rather than physical is what limits the time it may exist for."_

_"And what of this will?" the warlock edged __Neru'Rekan__ on._

_"Do you hound all of your teachers in this way? I am surprised you have succeeded as a warlock. Now be quiet while I continue." The spider berated __Maldelic__ then picked up his lecture. "The will is where problems occur. A will is generated from memories when a soul and body are present. It is the drive, wisdom, intelligence, and personality which belong to a soul." Having explained the basics, the __Nerubian__ paused for a moment and waited for the information to get across._

_"Your point?"__Ranilok__ had grown impatient and begin to fiddle with a bag of arcane powder that he always carried with himself for those moments when he wanted to relax in its magical qualities._

Finishing, the dream, Ranilok awoke with a start. The statue still lay lifeless but soft and flexible beside him. He looked at it, admiring his work, and then remembered his dream.

"A soul! I've made a perfect body, and now I just need the perfect soul. The 'will' will come from the soul." Ranilok leapt from the bed, moving across the room to pace and think about how he could get a soul. As soon as he had paced a moment, he stopped quickly. "How does one… make a soul? I've no diagrams, models, nothing." The elf frowned and then the idea occurred to him of where he could get a soul. Gulping, he faced the idea of where he had to go. "I'll have to go see Him… oh I loathe him. Why? Why? I sent that damn dwarf that way too. This is indeed unfortunate, but I suppose I'll have to." Ranilok turned to the figure. "For you, my love."

After lowering the bars that he had made on his windows and locking the door, Ranilok created an additional arcane shield around the building; nothing would get in to harm his love. Outside, his hawkstrider, Fireplume, waited at its food and water troughs. It was the same hawkstrider that he had taken to Northrend years ago when he had gone to hunt for Methuselah. Mounting up, Ranilok quickly headed for the seaside and hoped that Gevran had not reached his old 'friend' already.

It took nearly half of the day to reach the destination that Ranilok sought. Although he was on the side of the mountains close to the sea, Quel'thalas was an expansive kingdom. Thoughts of his 'loss' plagued him as he rode towards this destination. Knocking on the door, Ranilok tried to compose himself and swallow his pride enough to speak with the owner. To his surprise, a young elven boy opened the door.

Looking at Ranilok with wide eyes, the boy ran into the house. "Mummy, that man's at the door." He called out.

"What man?" Arisia met the child halfway across the floor and picked her son up. She caught sight of Ranilok as she did and frowned. "Irideus, I told you not to open the door alone, especially not for strange people."

Simmering at the remark, Ranilok tried to speak patiently. "I need… I need to see him."

"Well I don't think I'll call him after what happened the last time you two met. Stop darkening my doorway." Arisia called out in indignation.

"Hold it. I'll come to the door." Mithelidan stepped infront of the door from the other side of the frame and took a hold of Irideus from Arisia. "Because if someone as prideful and unforgiving as you shows up at my door asking for help, it must be a momentous occasion."

Just let me come in and talk to you." Ranilok rolled his eyes at Mithelidan's gloating.

"I will, but I hope you still realize that with Irideus here your powers mean nothing." The warlock warned.

"I realized that last time." Ranilok looked lost and stripped at the idea of not having his power at his disposal.

"And watch your tongue too." Mithelidan led Ranilok in and closed the door with his free hand, moving to the table in the house. "Gevran has already been here and I know you cast his friendship by the wayside too."

Ranilok cursed silently, hoping Gevran had not turned them away already. The elf had already turned them away mostly when he found out that Maldelic had become Mithelidan. The elf had stormed in after sighting Arisia with another blood elf man, demanding an explanation. He had come to see if she had turned away the undead Maldelic or not. Ranilok was ready to incinerate the 'new' acquaintance, even after he found out that it was Maldelic in this new form. The spell wouldn't cast because of Irideus. Irideus was born half human as he was conceived before Methuselah became Maldelic. When Maldelic became the blood elf Mithelidan, Irideus became a full elf and also experienced strange side-effects from the transformation. The boy was now a walking anti-magic field, he was only beginning to learn to use the ability at selective times.

After sitting down and trying to clear defeat from his mind, Ranilok spoke. "I need to know some things about Warlock arts."

"Really? What will you gain from it?" Mithelidan probed. "You have no interest in anything unless you've something to gain."

"Why do I always have to answer for my motives? I have my own reasons!" Ranilok cut Mithelidan off just as the warlock finished the sentence. "Look, I need a soul, ok? Just a soul."

Mithelidan chuckled and then answered. "You've absolutely no idea what you're asking for. What, did you piss away your own in some deal and you need a replacement?"

"It's not for me damnit!" Ranilok tried to make the conversation serious again.

"Oh well then I'm sure the soul of one of the local Murlocs would suffice." Mithelidan answered graciously. "I've no qualms about releasing such a slimy soul to such a slimy individual."

Not noticing the insult, Ranilok immediately dreaded the thought of his love hunched over and making animalistic gurgling noises. "No no. I need a new soul… I need to create a soul."

Pausing pensively, Mithelidan was no longer entertained by his guest. "What?"

"I…" Ranilok paused. Could he tell Mithelidan? He had to tell Mithelidan; the warlock had suggested it after all. Perhaps Mithelidan would realize that he couldn't separate Ranilok from his destiny; that Arisia had lost to Ranilok's new love. They would know they couldn't beat him… so they would join him. "I've made… a… perfect vessel for a soul. I need a new soul to go in it, or else it cannot live."

Now openly showing his disdain, Mithelidan tried to remain calm and explain a few things to Ranilok. "First, warlocks do not create souls… we trade them. No being in our world is capable of such a creation, except perhaps parents. Second, get out."

"Why? It's a reasonable request! I would pay you… a business deal." Ranilok dismissed the fact that it was impossible as a lie.

"As much as I have done reprehensible things in the past, I was not serious when I told you to make woman from those crystals… that is what you've done, isn't it?" Mithelidan raged at Ranilok. "I can see why Gevran stormed out of visiting with you now, this is an affront to anything a priest would stand for."

"No!" Ranilok exclaimed, standing up. "This is destiny! I am not destined to be alone! Just as you were destined to take Arisia from me, this is my fate!" the mage began to pace the room.

"Take me from you?" Arisia gave Ranilok a disgusted look. "I was never yours to begin with! I'd hoped that your last visit was a misunderstanding, I really had! You're no better than when you had the gall to defy Malygos and strand us all in Northrend! I didn't want to believe that you tried to keep Mithelidan and me apart… I've no choice but to believe it now."

"Well then I guess all the cards are on the table now. It doesn't matter." Ranilok moved towards a satchel full of scrolls that hung from a hook on the wall, putting one of his hands into his robes.

Catching on quickly, Mithelidan got up got ready to move if Ranilok went for the scrolls. "Don't try it. Even I don't know what's on those. There's no knowing what you could unleash if you tried to use them."

"You're lying! They'll give me what I want… I'm sure of it." Ranilok eyed them greedily. "I saved your life twice, you know? I ensured that Neru'Rekan didn't destroy your containment crystal… and I got your soul out of that corpse."

"Your greed and hidden intentions have more than made those deeds worthless." The warlock began to step around the table so he could see Ranilok fully and cast his spells. "Irideus… try and stop him only. Don't block us."

As the boy concentrated to try and block Ranilok, the greedy mage spoke once more. "I didn't mean that… Neru'Rekan couldn't stop me. You won't stop me either!" In an instant, Ranilok grabbed a few scrolls from the satchel and began to disappear.

Arisia tried to cast a slowing spell on the thief, but he was gone. Ranilok had been activating his hearthstone while talking, Irideus was stopping Ranilok from casting, but he wasn't stopping the stone. Outside, the mage's hawkstrider screeched and ran off.

"I'm sorry, mummy, I didn't see the stone." Irideus apologized.

"It's ok, Irideus, you tried your best." Arisia picked him up and sat back down in her chair, holding him on her lap. "We can ride after him and get those scrolls back."

"No, it's ok. We'll let him have them for now." Mithelidan sat back down at the table.

Sliding off of his mother's lap, Irideus walked over to his father and questioned the choice. "But isn't stealing bad? Doesn't he need to be punished?"

"Yes, son… and he will be punished. It will not be by our hands. He will be punished by the very things he took. Warlocks learn not to summon more demons than they can control. If we become overconfident and try to do something in madness, we will die. When a mage tries to presume that he knows warlock magic and do the same… he will suffer worse fates than death." The warlock taught his son as he considered the things that might happen to his old friend if he were really mad enough to open the scrolls that he took.

--------------

Appearing in front of his home, Ranilok sighed. "Another 'friend' gone; he will not keep me from my destiny." The elf shrugged it off.

Turning to the house, he saw several wretched hugging up to the shield and trying to drain some of the mana they desperately desired from it. Casting a spell, Ranilok made the shield explode, easily killing them. "Wretched scum… it works every time."

After making sure that the property was clear, Ranilok quickly went inside and locked the door, barring it as he had in the past days. The elf checked on his prized creation, relieved that it was safe. Moving to the table where he had the medical diagrams held open, Ranilok broke the seals on the warlock scrolls and laid them out. He had taken three scrolls from the satchel in hopes of finding something worth reading. The first scroll was written in a completely indistinguishable character set. The second scroll was written in common, which Ranilok still knew from years ago; it detailed the opening of a demonic prison. The final scroll detailed the combination of several lesser infernals into a colossal greater infernal.

"Damnit! None of these create souls! Could he actually have been telling the truth? Could the creation of souls be impossible? It can't be… the titans made earthen and the dwarves that came from them have souls… or do they?" Ranilok contemplated.

For the first time since its conception, Ranilok considered that his idea might fail. The thought filled him with dread beyond anything he had experienced before. Even being locked in Malygos grip and threatened for his greed didn't scare him this much. He had put everything into this moment, lost his place in Silvermoon, lost his 'friends', all in pursuit of his destiny. He was out of choices; he couldn't go back and take more scrolls, he couldn't waste time to find and bribe another warlock. Most of all he couldn't fail… he absolutely refused to fail. Even though he had succeeded in acting noble at some times of his life, his greed had failed all of his nobility. He would not fail at his destiny.

"No! I will not fail you, my love! One of these damned scrolls must do something!" The mage rifled through the scrolls. Grabbing the second scroll again, the idea suddenly came to Ranilok. "An unbinding scroll would be perfect. No one on this planet knows how to create a soul… so a demon from another plane must be able to do it! If I free the demon it would most definitely owe me something!" The mage didn't question the logic of the idea in his fervor.

Luckily, the second scroll had symbol chalk rolled up in it. Ranilok took the presence of the chalk to be a sign that he was meant to fulfill his destiny. Dusting away the chalk, Ranilok felt a strange tingle in his hand and then felt it begin to burn. Quickly casting a strong curse-removal spell, Ranilok noticed the scroll lose a bit of a red tinge that it had as his hand returned to normal.

Triumphantly taking the chalk and clearing a space to draw, Ranilok began to run the chalk along the floor. "That was a bit too close… but a mere curse cannot stop me. Curses mean nothing to mages!"

Ranilok had never understood the power of symbols in magic. Drawing lines and circles was something useless in his opinion, but he did it because the scroll said to. For him, magic was mana and energy, a true liquid force to be manipulated and used for one's purposes; the frill of drawings had nothing to do with magic at all. As the sun set, the symbol was completed. Similar to his other work, Ranilok completed it with precision; he was as good at mimicking spells as he was at mimicking life. In truth, he had no idea of what he was getting into. Perhaps such greed spawned adventures, like Ranilok's return to Northrend, defined his life.

"Now, the last mark… to unbind this demon and gain a soul for my beloved!" Ranilok marked on the symbol as it turned a shade of purple and a portal opened above it.

A few moments passed in silence as Ranilok waited for something to happen. The portal sat calmly, which was very uncharacteristic of warlock spells. Suddenly, a cacophony of chattering came from the portal as a half dozen imps flooded out and looked for something to attack.

"You'll not harm her, demons!" Ranilok quickly shot the imps with frostbolts and then ran to the bed and grabbed the figure, taking it with him beside the portal.

Before the mage could do much, a barrage of beasts that were the same shade of blue poured from the portal; voidwalkers. Each cried out identically, "Energy… to… consume."

"It's my energy! She is mine! Back off!" the mage easily fried the voidwalkers too. "Why not send me a real challenge! You won't stop me from freeing this demon!"

In response to his call, a tall demon with plate armor and white skin emerged from the portal. "The prisoner within shall not be released! Face the wrath of my masters!"

A large white felguard had come from the portal wielding two greatswords that flowed with icy enchantments. Ranilok knew that he must be close if something like this had come through. A felguard that belonged to Mithelidan had made Ranilok cave in once; it was when Ranilok gave the location of Arisia up.

"This time, you will die!" Ranilok swore to the guard and took up the call he had repeated to so many in the past few days. "You will not keep me from my destiny!" the mage laid the figure down, not noticing that he had put her partially on the symbol.

The felguard grinned and swung mightily, hoping to kill Ranilok in one blow. Sadly, he hit only air… the mage blinked behind him as he swung and hit him in the back with a fireblast. Grunting and making a second swing, the felguard missed the limber elf with the blades but connected with the chains on the hilts, knocking him back across the room and into the portal. Ranilok shivered for a moment, feeling that he was in an icy cave. The only thing he could see was the portal and a bright light, so he dove back through the portal and hit a the felguard with a prepared fireball. The two continued to fight, but Ranilok continuously dodged the blows. Leaving its swords, the felguard charged Ranilok and lifted him up, pressing him into the wall.

"You'll die before you free her!" The demon spoke darkly as its rancid fel-reeking breath wafted into Ranilok's face.

"It's not my destiny to die!" Ranilok called out as he pulled an Itjahzi crystal from his robes and tossed it between the two of them. "It's my destiny to be with my love!" The elf threw the crystal in the air and called the essence of the black dragons to breathe through it. The crystal amplified the spell tenfold and reduced the felguard to ashes instantly. The portal flickered as if something was trying to close it. As it did, a ball of light flew out and struck the figure that lay partially on the symbol.

"No! My love!" Ranilok rushed to the symbol and scrambled to erase it. As soon as the first bit of the chalk was smudged, the portal snapped shut and left only a small black stone on the ground.

Ranilok kicked the stone to the side and picked up the living statue, he ran to the bed quickly and sat with the statue across him. "My love! What did it do to you?" he looked her over.

Rather rapidly, the color of the figure was changing from deep blue to flesh toned. Aside from one stripe on each side of her head near the ear, the woman's hair was now a pale shade of blonde. The only other markings that separated her from a normal elf were seven raised crystal markings that could easily be mistaken for jewels seated on the woman's skin. Three of the jewels formed the edges of a triangle on her forehead, one sat on each wrist, and one on each shin. They were still flexible as when the flesh was blue colored, but they retained the blue while the rest of her skin changed.

"My love… you're changing." Ranilok noticed the figure's chest rise as it drew in breath. Immediately, all thought he had of danger and even of what he had just done left him. "You're breathing."

Almost thrown into ecstasy over his success, Ranilok held the woman close and hugged her. The being began to move on its own, as if the soul was exploring the body that it had been gifted. Ranilok let her lay across him as he watched her twist and paw around as if she was having a strange dream. He knew it! He knew that this was his destiny. All of his adoration, his work, his loss of friends, it all came together now as he achieved his goal.

The figure opened its eyes next, looking at its arms and then up at Ranilok; the pupils in the woman's eyes also shined the blue color of the Itjahzi crystals. It began to speak in various languages until it landed on his, the voice that came from the statue sounded like a melody carried on the wind. "Your language is Thallasian."

"Yes… My name is Ranilok, my love, I am your creator." The elf almost stammered out his planned greeting, still in shock that he had succeeded so overwhelmingly.

Pausing to look around at herself more, the woman sat up and slid off of Ranilok's lap, kneeling on the bed and looking at him. "You are the maker of this body?" She questioned him.

"Yes, I have made you, my love." Ranilok still stared at her with completely star-struck eyes; she was everything that he had hoped for.

"Your love? Do you even know the weight of the word that you use?" the girl spoke softly, looking into Ranilok's eyes.

"I… do. I'm sure I must." Ranilok paused as the girl had. "It is our destiny to be together! I have waited so long and I have been stopped at every turn. Now, after all this time, I have made a perfect body and soul to be my companion throughout life!"

"You mean me?" The girl pointed at herself quizzically, only to be answered by Ranilok nodding furiously. She tried to think of how to say what she needed to say. "Ranilok…" the woman said his name unsurely. "You can't make a soul. You've given me a form and saved me from the torture that I've endured for millennia by opening my prison. I was all but lost and my body was taken from me; they kept my soul alive to keep me aware of what had happened. As much as you would like to believe, you did not create me. My name is Cin'donia."

"What?" Ranilok's expression changed to a sadder one. The full weight of what he had done hit him at that point. He had not created a soul. Ranilok had only given refuge to the being that the spell freed. It had caused his body to live… but it was not a new soul that would be there for him instantly as he wished. "I… I don't know what to say. My destiny…" He was truly astounded as he swallowed hard. "I've nothing now."


	3. Neru'Rekan

**Chapter 3: ****Neru'Rekan**

A dark voice came from across the room as Ranilok moped about his shattered destiny. "You have your life, but I intend to change that too."

"I know that voice. No! How did you get here?" Ranilok looked towards the other side of the room.

Above the black stone on the floor, another portal swirled. Ranilok wondered how long it had been open, but he also feared what stood above the gaping hole in existence. It was Neru'Rekan, leader of the warlock caste of Nerub'Itjahz. It was Neru'Rekan, the being he had stolen constantly from and defied endlessly. It was Neru'Rekan, the terror that he had feared for many years. The spider-warlock stood imposingly, covered in long red robes.

"Never allow a dark beacon to remain whole. You are a fool, elf." Neru'Rekan lurched closer as he spoke.

"No… No… Neru'Rekan…" Ranilok quivered as he tried to scoot backwards on the bed. "It is my destiny to live and to have a companion! Why does everything have to keep me from my destiny?"

"Neru'Rekan, I heard your name from my prison. Why did you not free me?" Cin'donia asked.

"Interesting… a body created from pure magic… this is intriguing." Neru'Rekan ignored the woman's question and turned to the mage again. "You steal enough crystals to warrant your death and this is all that you do with them?"

"It's my destiny!" Ranilok tried to hold close to the mantra that he had picked up in the last few months.

"Shutup!" Neru'Rekan charged and slammed Ranilok across the room with one of his arms. "There is no destiny, only survival!"

Trying to draw the large spider's attention back, Cin'donia spoke again. "Why didn't you free me?"

"What have you done for the spider kingdom to warrant freedom? You've earned nothing… so we did nothing. You must know after all of this time that we are neither evil nor good. We survive in the shadows, seeking only our own preservation. The days of conquest and prosperity… are long over." The nerubian warlock seemed to reminisce for a moment.

Silenced by the remarks, Cin'donia went and picked Ranilok up, still walking unsurely on the legs of the new body. Coughing, Ranilok followed her but remained standing as she sat back on the bed. "I'd love to see you try to take me!" He turned and began to conjure a fireball.

"Hold it." Cin'donia stopped Ranilok. "As much as he is deplorably lost in the shadow, what has this spider done to warrant being attacked?"

"He threatens us, especially me! He has wanted to kill me for a long time!" Ranilok explained. "I'll protect us."

Letting loose an eerie laugh, Neru'Rekan made a proposal. "Do you want to know about your 'creator', as he calls himself? He should be killed because he is foul."

"I will hear you out." The woman spoke.

"Please, don't!" Ranilok turned to her, trying to dissuade his 'love'. "You don't need to hear from him. He doesn't matter to us."

"If your conscience is clear, then you have nothing to worry about." Cin'Donia put a hand on Ranilok's arm.

"But he has so much to worry about. Did he tell you that he pilfered the very material that he used to create you? Did he also tell you that when we offered him hospitality, which is rare among my people, he abused it severely? Did he happen to mention that he defied not only me, but also a dragon aspect? Did it pass through his lips that his defiance of the aspect indirectly caused the death of one of his 'friends', as you humanoids call them?" Neru'Rekan made his charges towards Ranilok as the elf cringed at the annunciation of each one.

Frowning at the elf, Cin'donia spoke with regret. "I pity your soul, Ranilok."

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?" The elf moped. "My destiny is shattered."

"I told you, elf… destiny does not exist!" The spider raged at Ranilok, looking to hit him, but unable to due to Cin'donia being in the way.

"Then just kill me!" Ranilok demanded impatiently.

Cin'donia scooted away from the elf. "Do you really want death that much? Is there nothing in this life that you wish to hold onto?"

"He also acts as if death is the worst thing that I could do to him." The spider looked at the remains of the felguard and kicked the boots to the side. "I will extract your debt in pain and service. You will know no true rest!"

"You're taking me back aren't you? No. I won't go!" Ranilok looked for a moment to run for the door, but Neru'Rekan caught him tightly in his front claws.

"A most fitting punishment it will be! This too…" Neru held Ranilok steady with his front limbs and lifted another, picking a small change purse out of Ranilok's robes.

Demanding it back, Ranilok yelled at the spider. "Those are mine! Give them back!"

"These crystals belong to my people! You have no right to any of them. Be thankful that I am not laying claim to the body of your 'love' as you call her. Believe me; I intend to strip you of everything you hold dear by exposure or direct action!" The warlock stepped towards the portal.

"You can't judge me! You mean nothing to me!" Ranilok tried to defy the warlock again.

"No, I am not your judge; I am your executioner!" The spider threw Ranilok into the portal with a disorienting amount of force.

"What of me? You said that you laid no claim to this body; what am I supposed to do now?" Cin'donia uncharacteristically asked for advice.

Laughing and stepping through the portal, Neru'Rekan parted ways with the woman. "I could care less about you. You're free, and it appears you have a place to live… for now."

--------------

Ranilok felt himself ripped across the vast distance quickly. The elf tumbled out of the portal and landed on his back. Six nerubians quickly beset the mage and restrained him while a nearby nerubian mage continuously countered all of Ranilok's attempted spell-casting.

Neru'Rekan stepped out of the portal elegantly as he passed through from Quel'thalas. "Do you see, elf? Everyone hates you for what you've done." He waved one of his shadowy limbs and the crystals in the floor around them lit up, revealing a great assembly of Nerubians. "They don't even know you, but they hate you for your actions."

"So? I don't care about them!" Ranilok tried to struggle against the guards, but each took a turn lashing him for the comment.

"Methuselah always spoke to me of how humanoids had 'friends'. Do you have any, Ranilok? Have your actions damned you in all of their eyes?"

Breaking down slightly, Ranilok thought of all the friends he had lost over the 'love' that he now couldn't have. "It's all her fault isn't it… if I had really created a soul then this wouldn't have happened."

"So now you turn against the last being on this planet that may value you? You are truly a worthless wretch!" Neru'Rekan walked up and took his own shot at beating Ranilok, clawing into the elf's back and leaving several bloodied scrapes.

Hit hard by that comment, Ranilok asked honestly. "What have I done to them?"

"You've taken from my people's livelihood and from the defense of our colony by your theft. Now your thievery will become the device of your punishment!"

Throwing the small change purse that he had confiscated from Ranilok into the air, Neru'Rekan shot it with a shadowy spell and broke the enchantment that allowed it to hold. The large pile of crystals inside rained to the floor as the crowd opened up to allow for it. As soon as the last crystal had dropped, dozens of mages in the crowd began to move the crystals with their magic, building them into larger pieces. More crystals were brought in to finish some of the pieces as Ranilok watched in amazement. He was not the only one who had perfected building with Itjahzi crystals; the nerubians had millennia of experience. The casters began to stack the pieces slowly and bind them to each other. A warlock in the crowd summoned and slew a felguard over the headpiece, imbuing it with the demon's essence. In the chest of the large construct, an imprint of a humanoid was shaped along with retainers to close off the chamber.

"By the Sunwell what is that thing?" Ranilok looked to with fear.

"It is the device by which you will serve us." Neru'Rekan walked close to Ranilok and motioned to the guards. "Mark him against resistance."

Ranilok tried to free himself vehemently, but it was no use when he was restrained by so many spiders. Two of the guards scratched arcane symbols into the back of his neck, and then all of the guards let him loose. Ranilok immediately tried to cast a fireblast upon them, but he cast no more spells because the fireblast returned to him instead, singing his robes and blowing him to the ground.

"You will cause no more harm to my people, Ranilok. Those markings will permanently cause any pain you cause my kin to return to you doubly." Neru'Rekan stepped towards the elf and motioned at the construct that the nerubians had made from the crystals. "Get into the infernal shell."

"No. You can't make me do it!" Ranilok sat on the ground.

Laughing, Neru'Rekan motioned to the guards and they picked the elf up bodily and placed him into the mold. "We have accounted for this eventuality. You will learn to respect us… and if you do not, you will learn to fear us."

The mold slowly closed upon Ranilok and the headpiece lowered into place. The elf felt the essence of the demon in the headpiece begin to seep into his thoughts and take control of his actions. His consciousness was kept painfully aware of his lack of control as the demon tapped into his power. The entire structure of the infernal acted as an amplifier for the fire that Ranilok was able to wield. A detachment of Nerubians followed as the infernal marched deep into the tunnels beyond Nerub'Itjahz and towards an exit where the scourge could be found. Soon, the infernal was barreling at blazing speed as it neared the engagement. Nerubians skittered behind the monstrosity as it suddenly lit alight with flame and battered into the scourge ranks in the tunnels.

--------------

A week passed as Cin'donia became familiar with some of the intricacies of her new body. Ranilok had made the job so detailed that except for what actually composed her body and what flowed in her veins, she was an elf as much as he was. The main difference that she exhibited was no corrupting addiction to magic; she had an eternal supply of magic in herself as Itjahzi crystals never ran out of power.

Cin'donia found out what hunger was very quickly and she recognized what the edible food was and where it was stored. Because her form was made permanent by Ranilok's magic, she was unable to experience weight gain. Cin'donia's body transformed the food that she ate directly into energy, leaving no waste. This transformation also meant that she could go long times without eating and eat much more than any elf should be able to when she wished to take on energy.

Having no concept of the proper order of things, Cin'donia had left the house in disarray after the fighting and summoning within it. The portal to Nerub'Itjahz had closed shortly after Neru'Rekan had retreated through it. The creation had no desire to leave, she had nowhere to go. Another motivation for not leaving was that she had not heard Ranilok's side of the story. As much as her creator seemed deplorable to her, she wanted to hear his explanation for his actions. Perhaps she could help him to get better from his ways; she could show him the light.

After the week had passed and Cin'donia had eaten through a good deal of the food in the house, someone finally knocked on the door. Cin'donia wondered where the noise came from first, and soon realized that it was the door. Moving towards the exit of her limited world, she slowly moved the brace as the visitor continued to knock, sounding more impatient now. Unsurely, Cin'donia opened the door and looked at the person who stood beyond.

"OH…. excuse me… am I disturbing something?" Lily stood at the door with Ranilok's food for the week and stared at Cin'donia. The elf was clearly blushing at the sight that greeted her.

"No. Who are you?" Cin'donia looked her over, asking politely.

"My name is Lily. I bring the food here every week. Where is Ranilok?" The girl asked, hoping that her employer was in a better mood from the woman in the house and perhaps be able to explain the state of the woman that answered the door.

"He's not here; he was taken away." The creation answered simply.

"Just taken away? Aren't you worried about him?" Lily assumed that the two were a pair.

Shaking her head, Cin'donia denied being worried. "No, not really. I want to hear something he has to say, so I am staying here until he returns at least."

Lily shifted the bags that she was carrying around. "May I come inside? This is so strange and I don't like to stand here holding all of these packages."

"Yes, you may come in." Cin'donia responded, stepping away from the door.

After putting the packages down just inside the door, Lily shut the entry and gazed around the house. "What happened here?"

"A nerubian came here and took Ranilok to Northrend with him. I also believe that Ranilok fought and killed at least ten demons in this room." The woman answered Lily honestly.

"That's mad. I never imagined that Ranilok had such things going on here." Lily tried to think about the situation as she looked at Cin'donia seriously for once. She noticed how perfect the woman was and she noticed the gems set on Cin'donia's skin. The creation made her look like she was the dullest piece of brass in a room full of candelabras. "So then why are you naked?" Lily finally built up the courage to ask.

"I'm naked?" Cin'donia looked down at herself; she was indeed wearing no clothing.

"You didn't realize it?" Lily looked completely astounded.

"No. Please tell me." Cin'donia sat on the bed as Lily came over and sat by her.

"Well… It's hard to explain. Do you have amnesia or something? You look to be as old as me and I find it hard to believe that you don't know to dress yourself when answering the door." Lily was still befuddled at her companion.

"You mean to wear something like you are wearing?" Cin'donia asked plainly.

"Well, yes." Lily couldn't believe that she was explaining this to another grown elf. "It's proper to cover this area and this area at least, traditionally more than that. You cover them most of the time, except well…" Lily leaned in and whispered the rest to Cin'donia, not feeling comfortable with loudly announcing the proper times to wear clothing.

"I don't know if there is any clothing here for me." Cin'donia frowned, realizing that she was probably causing Lily to be extremely embarrassed.

"But, didn't you come here wearing something? Were you walking around naked outside?" Lily continued to be astounded at the conversation.

Remaining completely honest, Cin'donia explained her lack of clothing. "I've not been outside of this building yet. The last time that I traveled was countless years ago and in a much different form."

Overwhelmed by the strange intricacies of this woman, Lily tried to shrug off revelation. "Ok… I guess we could look around. This place needs to be straightened up and I know Ranilok is a tailor."

They both walked around the house, picking up chairs and replacing books on tables. Thankfully, the warlock scrolls had rolled themselves up and the one that had freed Cin'donia had vaporized. After an hour or so, the house was picked up, but no clothing was in sight.

"He must have intended for you to remain naked… that's so improper." Lily sat down on the bed, disappointed that Cin'donia couldn't be helped.

"We haven't opened these two chests." Cin'donia had been keeping track of their search.

"But would he really want us going through his things? He left the other chests open, but not these two." Lily took a hold of Cin'donia's arm to stop her from walking to the closed chests.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Cin'donia walked to the locked chest and opened it with little effort.

"How did you?" Lily paused, knowing the chest had been locked before. "How did you open that?"

Cin'donia looked back at Lily, bewildered herself this time. "I lifted the lid. Is it more complicated than that?"

"I guess not." Lily shrugged off the oddity as she looked into the chest. "Ah! This is what we're looking for!" the woman pulled out a close-fitted but elegant dress.

"It does look nice." Cin'donia was able to recognize the craftsmanship put into it even though she didn't realize that she was supposed to wear it until now.

Handing her a few other items, Lily tried to be guiding and motherly. "Put these on first, then the dress."

Cin'donia learned how to dress the body that she had been gifted very quickly. While she dressed, the thought for the first time about the situation that she was in. The woman knew that some other races wore garments like this, but she had not made the connection in the short time that she had been free to wear them herself. Ranilok was an elf, but was she really an elf? Her body was made of the magic crystal that Neru'Rekan had spoken about, but did that mean that she still had to follow the rules that bound others who appeared similar to her? Accepting that it did for the time being, Cin'donia tied the small string at the collar of the dress and looked towards Lily.

"I knew it must have been a memory problem. You put it on perfectly." Lily swept all of her uncertainties away with the simple excuse.

Knowing that Lily wouldn't understand, Cin'donia remained silent and changed the topic. "Will you be staying here?"

"Oh, I musn't. It would not be appropriate if Ranilok returned for me to be inside." Lily stood up and headed for the door.

"But you're inside now. What's different?" Cin'donia tried to get Lily to stay.

"Well… I don't know, but I have to go." Lily opened the door and stepped outside to close it.

"Will you come back?" Cin'donia inquired as the door was closing.

Smiling, Lily shut the door and left. "Of course, I'll have to bring more food."


	4. Getting to Know You

**Chapter 4: Getting to know you**

Cin'donia displayed an inordinate amount of patience in waiting for Ranilok to return to the house. After the day that Lily visited, Cin'donia removed the rest of the clothing from the chest and stored it in a more organized fashion. In the middle of the week after Lily had first come, Cin'donia was reading over some of the elven medical diagrams when Ranilok suddenly re-appeared, lying on the bed. The elf's body steamed as the icy cold of Northrend reacted to the warm surroundings in Quel'Thalas. His clothes were tattered and burnt, but they still covered most of his body.

Approaching carefully, Cin'donia sat on the foot of the bed and called out. "Ranilok, wake up."

Cin'donia was lucky that she had sat far away. Upon being disturbed, Ranilok swatted at the air around him violently and sat up, opening his eyes quickly to look around. The elf looked at his limbs and flexed his hands as Cin'donia had upon being awakened. After shifting around in such a way, Ranilok looked to Cin'donia.

"Am I dreaming?" Ranilok looked at her, noticing she had found the clothes he had made for her, but not connecting the passage of time or anything else to it.

"Dreaming?" Cin'donia questioned, not too familiar with the concept of sleep, much less dreaming.

Turning to the side and coughing, Ranilok tried to sit up but failed. "It's what happens when you sleep. Do you know what sleep is?" he mumbled from the bed that he had fallen back to.

"The visions I have when I lose consciousness?" Cin'donia questioned, linking the terms to the events.

"Yes… those. Is this one of them? Am I awake?" Ranilok asked.

"The visions confuse me. I know they are visions because I do not hunger during them and because they are completely illogical." Cin'donia picked up a small piece of bread from the table near the bed and handed it to Ranilok. "Are you hungry?"

"I feel sick." Ranilok groaned as he took the piece of bread and tried to eat it.

"Sick?" Cin'donia questioned. "Is that what was on the scrolls? The writing described disease."

Still unsure of whether or not he was awake, Ranilok nodded. "Sort of… feeling sick doesn't necessarily mean you have a disease. I don't think you can get sick."

"I suppose that is fortunate." Cin'donia cared little about disease and sickness as she had not been sick. Looking at Ranilok's back, she saw the still unhealed lash-marks through the gashes in his robe. "These are injuries." The woman, though new to this life, knew pain and injury when she saw it.

Suddenly remembering what had transpired over the past week, Ranilok began to shiver violently and tear up. Cin'donia could tell that he was in distress, but she could not discern what had caused such sudden feelings. Ranilok cried until his face was red and he looked about to pass out. Reaching out for his back in pity, Cin'donia noticed the crystal on her wrist light up. The gash marks on Ranilok's back healed as the woman reached out for them, she quickly withdrew once they looked better to her.

"The light is still with me." Cin'donia paused. "This is a blessed day."

Sniffing away his tears, Ranilok looked up at her. In the absence of the fel-tainted crystals that the blood elves now drew their powers from, his eyes had gone back to shining a faint silvery-blue color. "I'm… back. Why am I back? He's gone isn't he?" Ranilok suddenly felt around his face. "Graaghun is gone."

"Graaghun is a demonic name. What is going on?" Cin'donia asked quietly, still looking at the crystals on her arms, which had now ceased to glow.

Almost curling up on the bed, Ranilok tried to explain. "They took all of my… of their crystals and made a giant from them. They demanded that I fight the scourge and when I didn't… when I didn't they made a demon control me into doing it."

"That's awful." It became evident that Cin'donia didn't like demons.

"I'll pay them back! I'll pay them all back for it someday! They ruined my destiny!" Ranilok seemed to drop back into how he had behaved before.

"Vengeance is a dark concept. Why would you give yourself up to it? You've already done so many terrible things." The woman was as forthright as ever with what she was thinking.

Ranilok paused, realizing how much Cin'donia disapproved of his behavior. He felt that it wasn't supposed to be this way. The world had screwed him over again. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. I wanted to create a soul for the body you have… one that I could turn to and love. I wanted to have peace. Why does the world hate me? I fought countless scourge for the nerubians in that… that thing, and yet they all still hate me and jeer at me. I remember that it finally halted as I ran out of energy and they shouted 'thief' and 'usurper' as I was removed from it."

Frowning at his conclusions, Cin'donia tried to address them one at a time. "It isn't supposed to be anything. Do you hate that I have ended up in this body? You saved me from my imprisonment and now you wish I wasn't here. If you don't even want to give me a chance in your desire for this 'love', I'll just leave."

Reaching out suddenly, Ranilok tried to touch her. "Don't go!" he fell back to the bed. "I don't know what came over me."

"From what I know about you, it isn't something coming over you. I wanted to stay here to hear you explain yourself at least; to answer Neru'Rekan's charges." Cin'donia scooted slightly closer and waited for him to tell her.

"I can't deal with talking about it right now. Please, tell me about yourself first. Why were you in that prison?"

Rising to get food for them both, Cin'donia tried to figure out where to start. "I don't know what to say really. I was a member of a race that wielded the light. We traveled the great dark beyond searching for races that could aid us in destroying the Burning Legion."

"You're a…" Ranilok paused, knowing that he would have to explain how he knew what she was. The elf knew the dark secrets of what was held in Silvermoon and if his suspicions were true, Cin'donia would not be happy with any member of Ranilok's race. "… an amazing being to have traveled so far. What did they call your race?"

"Naaru is what some of the others called us." Cin'donia paused, remembering what it was like to have a body made of pure light, to see everything in all directions, to not have the limitations that this new body bore.

His suspicions confirmed, Ranilok re-affirmed his decision not to reveal the secrets of Silvermoon to her. "But that doesn't say why you were in the prison."

Almost crying as Ranilok had, Cin'donia was confused. "Is this what happens when you feel sorrow? I think I've seen other races do this."

"Yes, it is. Go on, if you can." Ranilok was surprised that a naaru was able to cry.

"I was sent here a very long time ago when we suspected that the dark one himself, Sargeras, had come to this world. The evil one was killing dragons and absorbing their power. I tried to face him, but he was much too powerful. Once I was defeated… oh this is hard to even remember. I don't want to remember those times. But why don't I? I should be joyous that they are over. This body is making me feel emotions that I do not know how to react to." The woman paused and tried to collect herself desperately.

"Cin'donia is a nice name." Ranilok attempted to help her get away from the sorrow. "Can I call you something shorter, for ease?"

Getting her mind off of the subject for a moment, Cin'donia wondered what Ranilok might call her. "If you wish; I've never had such an offering made to me."

"I'll call you Nia then, if you'll allow it." Ranilok tried to smile from where he lay on the bed.

"That is suitable, though it has no meaning beyond the letters and my response to it." Cin'donia reminded the elf.

"But that's the point of names like that." Ranilok paused a moment and tried to get the conversation back in without disturbing Cin'donia. "So what happened when you were captured?"

"It was terror. I can only explain it by explaining naaru. We never truly die. When a naaru's light energy becomes depleted, we transform into embodiments of shadows while our souls lie dormant until we have regenerated enough to be reborn. During this time, our bodies draw in the souls of others and produce voidwalkers." Cin'donia frowned again as she tried to explain.

"You never returned though. Surely you would have broken free if you did." Ranilok was completely astounded by the story, as tired as he was.

"That's the worst part. Sargeras knew what happened to a naaru, and so he took my soul from my body and imprisoned it while he kept my form drained of its power and immersed in the shadow for his use in producing armies of voidwalkers. After a long time, I can only guess that the spiders found my prison and decided to keep it as it was. Every moment I felt the separation and thought of what my body was being made to do. I don't feel it anymore; I've been completely bound to this form. It's both joyous and sad at the same time. I don't know how to feel." Nia finished the hard part of her story.

"That's such a…. sad… story." Ranilok reached out for her, but collapsed into unconsciousness.

--------------

'Where did that abomination come from?' Ranilok thought as he looked out of his own unmoving eyes as the demon Graaghun siphoned his powers and tore through the scourge ranks.

The tunnels were tight around the shell as it barreled though; it rolled up into a massive ball sometimes to cleave the passages wider with its flames.

"Ranilok, wake up." Cin'donia called to him as she sat at the end of the bed, "You were going to tell me your story."

"I was? I'll get to it. You see…" The elf collapsed once more into sleep, not even having the energy to eat or drink.

"They all still hate you, elf. You're irrevocably damned for your cowardice and thievery." Neru'Rekan's voice rang in Ranilok's head as the infernal shell closed on him once more.

"Am I to suffer? I didn't ask for this. Do I deserve this?" Ranilok thought as the demon seeped into his thoughts.

"I brought you food." Cin'donia looked at the steam coming off of Ranilok's robes as he lay on the bed once more. "Try to eat. You'll never be able to tell me your story if you don't eat."

"No… not again! Haven't I suffered enough?" Ranilok opened his eyes and saw the cold and dark caves around him.

"Of course not." Neru'rekan laughed as the nerubian soldiers around him joined in. "They mock you. You've been dominated into our service by a mere felguard. You don't even have the sense of service enough to do this on your own. You are a great exhibition of what is worst in humanoids."

"Ranilok, wake up!" Cin'donia was sitting at the end of the bed once more.

Ranilok liked the dress that she was wearing this time; he had such fond memories of making it in hopes to see her wearing it one day. The dress was a light shade of blue that matched well with the crystals on Nia's wrists and the sides of her hair. It was a simple dress, like most of the others, and a functional one. Ranilok never liked the frill despite his greed, perhaps it was from adventuring with Arisia as she had to wear simple clothes on that journey.

"How long have I been gone?" the mage asked, barely moving,

Answering simply as she always did, Cin'donia responded. "You've been gone three weeks."

"Oh no! Who's going to buy food?" The mage passed out once more.

"You'll be going into the upper kingdom this time. Many of our brethren have been raised by the Lich King and the traitor there; it will not hurt you to fight them. Let none of them survive!" The spider-warlock's voice echoed in Ranilok's head once more.

"Won't you tell me your story? I want to hear you explain yourself and all you ever do is sleep." Nia's voice was in Ranilok's mind too, but was she talking to him or was Neru'Rekan?

"No! Don't rush in there! There's a thousand of them at least, we'll surely be killed." Ranilok cried out in his mind.

"You will fight, little elf." Graaghun laughed in Ranilok's mind. "Until the death, you will fight for your master!"

"Tell you my story? There's not much to tell…" Ranilok frowned as he looked up at the face he had always seen as angelic and knew that the closest thing that the universe knew to an angel resided within it.

Ranilok felt the tiny hairs on the front claw of Neru on his neck as the claw rose over his shoulder and the spider whispered in his ear. "Are you enjoying this yet? Isn't that a humanoid trait… enjoyment?"

"Cease this madness!" Ranilok shot up from lying on his bed and nearly hit Cin'donia as he swatted about at the air and fell back into blackness.

"Get him out of there and punish Graaghun. He's no use to us dead." Neru'Rekan gave orders as mages ran about and repaired the damaged infernal shell.

"Ranilok! Wake up!" Cin'donia shook the elf as he lay on his bed. "You're badly hurt!"

"I am?" Ranilok's eyes fluttered as he coughed up a bit of blood onto his chin and went unconscious again.

The days shot past in a blur as Ranilok shifted between his realities: his home with Nia always wanting to hear his story and willing to stay at his side until he told it at least, and his hell inside of the infernal shell as the demon Graaghun pried into his sanity and drove him through the endlessly multiplying ranks of scourge.

"My name is Ranilok." His mind swum and the elf could not tell if he was asleep or awake. "I've been having these strange dreams recently… or maybe they aren't dreams. When reality changes so much, you can't really tell the difference. My… creation… no… my only caretaker… wants to know my story. I have nothing to tell. Everything I've done has amounted to nothing. I've been punished… I've suffered. Did I deserve this? Yes, I deserved this. What happened to me to put me here? What erased the elf that I was? Is this all I am? My power… my greed… my lust."

--------------

"Can you hear me, Ranilok?" Cin'donia addressed the elf.

Opening his eyes slowly, Ranilok muttered some nonsensical words and then woke up. "Nia? How long have I been gone?" he asked as he often did.

"Four days, this time." The woman brought him some food. "Will you tell me your story?" Nia pleaded, dissatisfied with waiting around for him every time that he appeared.

"Must I? I'm hardly worth it. I've been completely deplorable to the world around me. I would only drive you away." Ranilok turned on his side and tried to eat.

"You would only cause me to leave by lying. You've recognized your wrongs; that is a start to healing. Please, tell me what caused all of this."

"It must have been the heart." Ranilok coughed, trying not to choke on his food.

"Do you mean the organ or the trait?" Cin'donia asked, unsure what he meant under such a general term.

"The organ… but not my own. It was the heart of a dragon, Stroyagos." Ranilok put down the food to try and tell more of the story without interrupting himself.

"Go on." Cin'donia asked him a moment later as the elf tried to compose his thoughts.

"I wasn't always greedy… I can remember it. I used to view those times as being weak times, but now I see that they were the only times that I was a decent elf to anyone." Ranilok explained regretfully.

"What does a dragon heart have to do with any of that?" The woman questioned him, confused about why he brought up the heart.

Trying to get back to the heart, Ranilok told more of his story. "I wasn't foul before we found it. I was a fair adventurer with my friends Arisia, Methuselah, Gevran, and this gnome I can't remember the name of. I saw Arisia grow from being timid to being a fair woman. I ended up wanting to be with her as Methuselah did, but in the end he won her heart."

"Is that why you created me? You couldn't win the heart of a true blooded elf so you made one of your own." Cin'donia looked disapprovingly at him.

As much as it hurt to admit it, Ranilok knew he had to be truthful. "Yes… it was. I wanted things to be so simple and I wanted to come out on top. It's gone all different, but you deserve to have that body more than I deserve to have what I dreamed of. You're free. I saw only my destiny, nothing else. The idea of such fulfillment drove me mad."

"Evil beings gather together all of the failures in their lives, take the opposites, and call it destiny." The creation lectured Ranilok.

"I know that now… I know that I acted wrongly. It all started with the heart. While Methuselah and Arisia romanced in the caves of Nerub'Itjahz, I was left alone with that thing. I became enthralled by its power, so much that when we had to return it to its owner, I even defied him. I had the gall to defy Malygos, the aspect of the blue." Ranilok looked down sadly again, seeing all of his past and becoming more and more embarrassed of it.

Asking about the last of Neru'Rekan's points, Cin'donia made Ranilok continue. "Your friends died because of it, the spider said before. How was this connected?"

"Methuselah sacrificed himself in battle, sending us all back here. We were only stuck in Northrend because I made Malygos too angry to send us home. I was better for a while. I went back to Northrend and gave up almost everything that I had to get there in hopes of bringing Methuselah back. I had accepted that Arisia was his and I wanted to help… but there was that yearning that the heart gave to me. I saw all of the magic in the crystals of Nerub'Itjahz and I took them. They made me do honest work in the forge in exchange for letting me stay among them and I robbed them of a few crystals. I suppose all elves are weak to things like that, but my thievery started there." Ranilok tried to make his acts seem fairer by spreading it out among his race.

"No one has to act in accordance with what they are. A member of the most despicable race can redeem themselves with the greatest acts of good." The naaru-elf continued to try and place lessons into Ranilok's story.

"I found Methuselah as an undead, and I tried to tell Arisia what had happened to him. She didn't want to know and so I left her alone. We lost the sunwell then, and everyone became 'blood elves' from the high elves that we were; that was the biggest change. Everyone started draining demons for power and the one who was on top was the one with the most power. When I went back to Nerub'Itjahz to reunite Methuselah's soul and his body, which had been separated to save his soul from the lich king, I took an entire vault with me so that I could be on top of the blood elves. My thievery seemed justified… I had great power and I was the only one who possessed such power. I thought I'd never be caught… but I was just lying to myself. I lied to myself enough times to think those crystals were mine, to think that I had some sort of destiny after I 'lost' Arisia. Arisia was never mine."

"Your eyes did turn blue. Does that mean that you're no longer a blood elf?" Cin'donia asked.

Astounded that they had changed back, Ranilok tried to think of a response before continuing. "Maybe? I don't know. Everything just sat in my mind and spun around so many times that I couldn't distinguish right from wrong or good from bad. The more ways that I found to manipulate and increase my power, the worse it got. I became so prideful that I was blind." The elf paused upon finishing his story. "So do you hate me now? Do you want to run?"

"No. I'll stay because you've been honest with me. You seem to be getting better from your greed. You said that becoming a blood elf renewed your greed, are all blood elves this way? Will you become like them again if you stay among them?" The woman seemed a bit more cheerful, hoping that maybe she could help him overcome finally.

"Only some blood elves. Good elves, like Mithelidan and Arisia and that sweet girl that delivers the food… they could never do the horrible things that I found myself doing. I… I've suffered so much in Nerub'Itjahz. I know that what I did is wrong now. They all hate me; every spider, all of my old friends. You're the only being on this planet that will even hold a conversation with me. I want to pick the pieces up, but I don't know how to. I've become a coward through my greed, relying on my power to get me out of situations rather than my friends. Is there any end in sight?"

"Only you can end your suffering, Ranilok. You started it with your actions and you will find a way to finish it." Cin'donia pulled a blanket over Ranilok and stepped away from the bed.

"Thank you, Nia. You've done so much for me. I don't know how I can ever thank you." Ranilok fell asleep, bound to be whisked away to Nerub'Itjahz when he least expected it.


	5. In Defense of the Spider Kingdom

**Chapter 5: In Defense of the Spider Kingdom.**

"Cin'donia, are you there?" Lily called from outside of Ranilok's house as she knocked on the door.

Lily considered Cin'donia a friend now. Ranilok had always been just an employer that belonged to a perceived 'higher class' of blood elves to her. Unlike any of the shopkeepers in Silvermoon, Cin'donia would have a conversation with Lily, as limited as the creation's knowledge of the blood elf world was.

"Yes? Is that you Lily?" Cin'donia came to the door without opening it.

"Of course it is! Who else would be standing here with food?" Lily spoke cheerily as she waited to be let in.

Cin'donia quickly opened the door and once Lily had set the packages down, Nia offered her a hug; a gesture that Lily had shown Cin'donia in the past weeks. After Lily had a moment to catch her breath, she looked towards the bed and jumped in shock.

"Oh! He's here." Lily exclaimed and then whispered.

"He'll keep sleeping unless you shake him. He always does." Cin'donia explained the situation.

Lily was astounded at what was going on "But he's actually here. How long has he been back?"

"Only a day. You remember that I wanted him to tell me his story?" Nia cheerfully asked her friend to remember a previous conversation.

"Did he finally tell it to you? I've wanted to know about him too." Lily sat down at the table and questioned innocently.

Cin'donia smiled and sat down across from Lily. "He did. I pity him, but I think he may be getting better. I don't know how he will finally turn around, but that is up to him."

"That's good. I'd love to hear his story sometime too." Lily expressed her interested and then sighed.

"What was that noise for?" Cin'donia asked, slightly startled by it.

Lily was confused again by her friend. Although they had spoken a lot about the world and Cin'donia seemed to have extreme intelligence, the woman had no practical knowledge. Although it was perfectly obvious to anyone who knew Nia's nature, Lily was left to wonder about why her friend had so many problems remembering basic things about life.

"You mean a sigh?" Lily sighed again. "That noise?"

Hearing it again, Nia spoke up. "Yes, yes, that one!"

"It's something you do when you're overwhelmed I guess." Lily didn't quite know how to explain something so natural.

"Well what has overwhelmed you? Were you in danger?" Cin'donia adopted a protective tone towards Lily.

"No, I'm fine now. It's just that earlier this week when I was picking up some metal pieces in Silvermoon for one of my employers, something tried to escape from one of the buildings and killed a few guards." Lily opened up to Cin'donia and told her what the troubles were.

"You speak of your… our capital. I've never looked highly upon imprisonment for my own reasons. What tried to escape?" Nia pushed Lily on to finish the story.

Slightly unsure of continuing because Nia seemed a bit on edge, Lily spoke slowly. "I don't really know. Farstriders square is full of mystery, the blood knights keep it that way. Rumors say that there is some sort of beast captured in the depths of the city. I've only heard its name before from the guards yelling it as they fought. They called it M'uru."

Immediately standing up in indignation, Cin'donia walked across the room and threw her hands down to her sides. "I feel… I feel something that I am not accustomed to. You said that M'uru is captured beneath your capital city?"

Lily jumped from her seat and back towards the door, thinking that she had angered her friend. "You're angry? You act like you know the one that they speak of as a beast."

"Anger… that is it… anger. I've not had a reason to feel this before. This is something I shouldn't feel." Cin'donia paused and looked towards Lily. "Please, don't ever call M'uru a beast again."

Not wanting to make her friend more displeased, Lily tried to apologize. "I'm sorry. I'm really so sorry! I didn't know it would offend you. I really don't know much about it."

"Him… about him." Cin'donia corrected her and then sighed, realizing how the expression was used. "I'm sorry too. I'm not used to feeling such things. I've felt so many new things over the past weeks I just can't explain them all. So who would know more about it?"

"Ranilok might. He worked as a researcher in Silvermoon before they asked him to leave the city; before he came out here." Lily suggested innocently, still not realizing the weight of what she said.

"Lily, please go outside and wait for me there." Cin'donia frowned and went to open the door for her.

"Why? I thought you'd want to stay here and meet me next week like always." Lily favored the normalcy of getting to see her friend and have some relief from her work.

"I don't know. Go, please. You do not need to hear this." Cin'donia showed Lily out and closed the door behind her, turning to Ranilok.

"Ranilok, wake up." Cin'donia sat on the bed and shook the elf as she had other times.

"Hrm? Nia? Why are you waking me up? Am I hurt again?" Ranilok mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes and then noticed the displeased look on his caretaker's face. "What's wrong?"

"You knew, didn't you?" Cin'donia interrogated him harshly.

"Knew what? You sound angry. Please don't be angry." Ranilok shifted about, wanting to sleep again.

Realizing that she was letting this emotion overcome her, Nia tried to suppress it. "You knew about what I was… you knew from M'uru." The woman remembered how Ranilok had paused in their previous conversations, as if he was about to mention something.

Waking up fully on something that intense being mentioned, Ranilok sat up and held his head, still slightly dizzy. "M'uru? You mean the naaru in Silvermoon?"

"You did know! Why didn't you tell me about him?" Nia was completely indignant about it, seeming more like a true elf than ever before.

"I didn't want you to go and chase after him." Ranilok tried to look up with care at her.

"You said you were trying to get better from your greed and you do something like this?" Cin'donia shook her head sadly at him. "You lied to me to try and keep me here for yourself!"

"No… it's not greed. Really it isn't!" Ranilok looked up, his mind clear of pain but gripped by the terror that he might lose Cin'donia.

"I won't hear it." The woman rose from the bed and walked for the door. "I'm leaving. I wanted to help you, but you seem set on making yourself into a lost cause."

Pulling himself up to a kneeling position on the bed, reaching for her, Ranilok called out. "No please! Stay with me!" the elf started crying and then looked at his hand, noticing that it was phasing out of reality. "Damn it!"

"Maybe they'll be able to help you more than I could." Nia left the house and closed the door behind her as Ranilok faded away, weeping and still wanting to convince her to stay.

--------------

"No! No!" Ranilok phased into the cold caverns of Nerub'Itjahz, kneeling at the feet of Neru'Rekan.

Neru'Rekan looked down at Ranilok and then over to the rest of the guards that stood around. "Tears. Look closely all of you; this is how humanoids show sorrow. You can know from this that you've truly said or done something that damages their mind." The spider made a lesson out of the crying elf. "Scourge cannot cry, but they do not deserve the conversation to cause sorrow."

All of the spiders took a turn leaning in and looking down upon the elf, each breathing rancid breath upon him as they observed his state. Many of them laughed as they pulled away from him and returned to the crowd. Ranilok tried to control his sorrow, but he couldn't; he had just lost the only being who valued him. For him, the worst part was the motivation. Initially, Ranilok had not told her because he didn't want her to leave. After he had realized his wrongs, he didn't tell her for her own safety.

"When do I stop being the end of the joke?" Ranilok tried to sniff away his tears again.

"Take him. He's useless right now. I'll explain the mission to Graaghun." Neru'Rekan ordered as two guards closed in to pick up Ranilok.

"Hold!" The elf stood up adamantly and held his arms out as if to stop his captors.

"You're telling us to hold? You can't fight us. What do you plan to do?" The spider-warlock was intrigued by Ranilok's change in behavior. This was the first thing the elf had done aside from whining or expiring since he had been brought back.

"I just want you all to know." The elf started quietly. "She left. She left, damn it." He called out loudly. "She left because I wanted to protect her and all she saw was my greed!"

"You are presuming that we care. You are still foolish, elf." Neru'Rekan reminded Ranilok of his place.

"I know you don't care. I care that it has gotten this bad." He looked to them defiantly. "I'll do it." The elf walked towards the infernal shell and began to climb into it, making a short speech from the chamber in the chest. "I'll fight them all until I've beaten them. I will stand in defense of the spider kingdom so that maybe in this life or whatever life comes next, I'll be able to show myself, her, and this world that there's more to me than greed."

"I still don't trust you, elf. You wouldn't know how to serve anyone if you were beaten upside the head with the instructions for eternity." Neru'Rekan approached to close the chamber that Ranilok had fit himself into. "You and Graaghun will be leading the final push to the upper kingdom gates in preparation for a siege on one of the lost colonies. Do not fail us."

The headpiece slowly lowered over Ranilok as Graaghun wormed his way into the elf's mind. Ranilok was calm this time, not fighting the demon; only watching. The elf accepted that they all hated him, but he knew that he would be able to prove his worth to them somehow.

"Are you even in this body anymore?" The demon prodded as it took control of Ranilok's actions.

"I'm here." The elf spoke calmly this time, trying to relax despite his helplessness.

"You're boring me. Why aren't you struggling? Aren't you going to resist me?" Graaghun called into the elf's mind.

Entertained that the demon was irked by his actions, Ranilok continued. "There's no point in it. Let's just go."

"You'll pay for this someday." The demon swore, annoyed that he could not enjoy his work this time by causing pain to the elf.

It was a long transit from Nerub'Itjahz to where the fighting would take place. The colony of Nerub'Itjahz was a small nearly self-contained colony that only had a few deep connections through the ground to the main upper kingdom. While Nerub'Itjahz seemed enormous to Ranilok and even to some of the younger nerubians within it, Azjol-Nerub dwarfed any nerubian colony in existence.

After the infernal had left, one of the lesser warlocks approached Neru'Rekan. "Are we to allow him to speak in that manner to us, master?"

"Yes, he's beginning to learn. I still do not trust him, but we shall see if he succeeds. I cannot kill him, but if he dies from his own failure it is not my fault." Neru'Rekan laughed at the idea.

"Why can you not kill him, master? Despite his service to us, his death would still be more than fitting." The apprentice questioned and reminded his master of the laws of the colony.

Holding a scroll up from his robes, Neru'Rekan spoke of it. "This scroll is a pact, which I will not speak further about. There are other ways for his debt to be repaid in our society, and he will use them."

"I see, my master." The initiate turned and headed back from the infernal's cave into the main colony as his master followed him shortly after.

Several days passed as the infernal shell headed north through the abandoned tunnels under Northrend. No scourge were in the tunnels any longer; Graaghun had seen to their destruction using Ranilok's powers. The elf watched what Graaghun did to move the great shell and tried to learn how to do it on the chance that he could take control from the demon. Ranilok was on a mission now to redeem himself and cast aside the greed and cowardice that had defined his life since he had become a blood elf. He despised his greed now, recognizing that Arisia and Mithelidan had been put off by it even as early as they first time they had come to the nerubian colony. As Ranilok had proven before, there was no stopping him when he got on a mission.

"Are you asleep?" Graaghun yelled into Ranilok's mind as the infernal stopped.

Waking up and looking at his surroundings through the same eyes that Graaghun saw, Ranilok made a shocked comment. "Now that's a sight not easily forgotten."

Their surroundings were epic, the stuff of historic paintings. Around them, a cavern of immense height rose with an enormous door on the far side. The door had a long and wide stairway before it that was hewn from the cave floor. Also before the door, rank and file of every type of scourge imaginable stood and glared at the nerubians and Ranilok. The nerubian side was quickly filling in with the spiders that flooded from the tunnel behind the infernal shell.

The door on the far side opened as a behemoth as tall as the infernal walked out. Each rank stepped aside in an ordered fashion and then closed again as the behemoth passed through. Whispers went through the nerubian ranks mentioning the beast's name. It was Anub'Ikthil, an ancient spider-lord that had been resurrected to become one of the murderous crypt lords. The lord was covered in bandages that floated with dark magic and hardened shells that covered most of his body. Offensively, he had two bladed claws and an enormous horn on his head.

"Has your confidence wavered yet?" Graaghun prodded at Ranilok's mind. "I knew it would. This is too hard a battle for you."

"No, actually. I have nothing to lose now… he will die and be forgotten, just as I would be if I was a coward in this battle." Ranilok looked towards the thousands of scourge.

"You!" The crypt lord silenced the muttering and moaning of the opposite ranks. "You have driven us back from these tunnels with your weak living lackeys. You are a fool to stand against our might; I will halt your advance single-handedly. Come and face me! My might cannot be matched!" the crypt lord challenged.

"So be it!" Graaghun answered and charged into the fray, lighting the shell into flames as he dove for the crypt lord.

"He's too overconfident, we've slain armies. He knows something." Ranilok spoke in his mind as he thought about the situation.

"Shutup, elf! I'm busy!" Graaghun began to try and beat the crypt lord over the head with the fat rocky ends of the infernal's arms.

The ranks of the scourge and Nerubians opened up to give them space as they watched, each army ready to overtake the other army under their leader; if their leader won. The scythe-like claws raked harmlessly across the firey crystal body as the ends of the infernal's hands bounced off of the hard shell on top of Anub'Ikthil's head. The battle wore on for some time before Ranilok spoke out again.

"You're the fool this time! You'll never beat him in melee with a shell like that. See how he lowers his head to protect his face each time?" Ranilok called up to the demon.

"Never call me a fool, elf! I will extract my own punishment upon you once I've won." Graaghun continued to beat the hard shell of the crypt lord.

As Graaghun paused to answer Ranilok, the crypt lord pounded the ground and several spikes shot up, piercing the leg and arm crystals of the infernal. Ikthil walked up and laughed triumphantly as he spoke to the infernal shell.

"My master can see you, demon! He has shown me the way." the spider raised his pincer and brought it down heavily on the firey head of the infernal.

The caverns shook with the cracking noise as Graaghun yelled along with it. The demon seeped out of the headpiece and out of Ranilok's mind as the fire faded on the crystal and Anub'Ikthil looked past his enemy.

"Take them! Chase them back to whatever death forsaken colony they came from and destroy it." The undead spider lord ordered.

"You can't really say that yet." Ranilok called from the infernal as he pulled himself off of the spikes and looked at his enemy.

"You're not dead??" The behemoth turned back to the infernal irately. "How many demons are in there?"

"No demons left, just me." Ranilok stepped backwards around the spikes to the far side of the circle. "I will burn my suffering into your soul!" the elf lit the shell up with flame again.

"You can't get away! Face my locusts!" The crypt lord called a swarm of bugs at the golem to try and drain its energy.

"I'm not impressed!" Ranilok concentrated and the firey aura of the shell blew outwards, incinerating the insects. "Anything better?"

"I'll just kill you like last time!" Ikthil yelled irately and began to shoot more spikes from the ground as Ranilok jumped around to dodge them.

The infernal shell was very powerful, but it was weighty on the arms and legs and no use against such a hardened enemy as the crypt lord. Ranilok knew that a more agile body would be useful, but he couldn't think of a way to get the nerubians to make him a new infernal shell on such short notice.

"I need a hand! How do infernals cause so much death without any hands?!" he thought to himself as he continued to dodge spikes. "Wait… I made a woman out of these things I can at least give myself a hand!"

Dodging to the opposite edge of the ring, Ranilok stopped the flames so he could see. The crypt lord pulled himself towards the unlit shell as Ranilok looked down at his arms from the head of the infernal. Concentrating on the powers and spells he had used to shape Cin'donia's body, he noticed they too were amplified by the crystals around him.

In response to his wish to have a hand, the crystals stretched and reconfigured instantly into a long rocky arm and hand. Looking to the other arm, Ranilok changed it into a blade and then stretched his legs out so that he was much taller than the spikes. Quickly lighting back up, Ranilok stepped over and around the spikes as he used his free arm to balance himself on the ceiling of the enormous cavern.

"You betray your own people and slaughter then in the name of the undead? You're worse than I ever was!" Ranilok lunged forwards at the crypt lord and took a powerful hold of the horn on the beast's head.

"I am not a traitor! I am a visionary!" Anub'Ikthil struggled against the grip.

The crypt lord wiggled in the construct's grasp, unable to unbalance the long-legged structure and also unable to hit its body due to the length of the arm. Lighting up the fire white hot, Ranilok swung the blade back and forth across the crypt lord's face, marring and burning it beyond recognition. Finally, the lord wiggled enough to snap his own horn off, but Ranilok was ready for this. With the absence of the horn, nothing on the beast's head could deflect the blade. The elf brought the blade straight down in the center of the hard shell, making the blade as long as his enemy's body and razor thin. The weapon smartly cleaved the bug in half, cauterizing the inside of the body as it passed through.

Anub'Ikthil had no time to scream and the ranks of scourge had no time to retreat or get in a first attack. Ranilok immediately spun around low and to the side, cleaving the front ranks of the scourge army in half horizontally and then piling into the rest of organized formations. "No mercy for them! Charge!" the elf called for the nerubian army to move in as he continued to cut through the enemies.

--------------

Hours later, once the scourge at the gate were obliterated, Ranilok sat in the golem and breathed heavily, trying to regain his strength from what he had just done.

"We've won. Send report to Anub'Jegavith and set up a base camp here. Bar the door until we have finished the camp." The spider in command of the troops approached the stretched and blade handed golem. "You've done all free nerubians a service today, elf. This will not be forgotten."

Feeling pulled, Ranilok looked around and noticed that he had been summoned along with the infernal back to Nerub'Itjahz. As soon as he had appeared, several of the nerubian mages approached to look at what he had done with the infernal shell. The mages were thoroughly intrigued with what he had been able to do to their construct. Ranilok quickly exited the shell and walked down the leg, actually looking around the enormous hall that he was in rather than passing out and appearing back in his bed as he had for weeks.

"Elf! Come over here." Neru'Rekan addressed Ranilok.

"Yes?" The elf answered the warlock's call.

Trying to bait the elf, Neru'Rekan spoke in a scornful tone. "I suppose you think that you deserve something now; a reward for today's victory?"

"I'm still in your debt until you release me from it, so I deserve nothing. I am just glad that I was able to do it myself this time. I didn't think I could at first, but after I was able to change the shell Anub'Ikthil died easily." Ranilok described the fight in short. "I wish that I had realized that I needed to do this myself earlier."

"Come with me. Our lord wishes for you to join us at the feast for this victory." Neru'Rekan stated plainly.

"I don't deserve such a gift. I've still so much to repay." Ranilok tried to be humble about it, knowing that if he was greedy about anything the sin might pull him back down.

"Do not question our generosity. You are in my master's kingdom, so you deserve what he says you deserve." Neru'Rekan warned Ranilok and started to head across the cavern that they were in, motioning for Ranilok to follow.

"I only did what I had to do." The elf caught up and tried to make his point again.

Cautioning the elf again, Neru'Rekan stopped and held a claw in front of Ranilok. "Say no more on this. You try my patience. You are also in my domain as a servant, you will call me master."

"Yes, Master." Ranilok willingly complied; he thought perhaps he truly needed a master at a time like this, whether it was this spider or Cin'donia.

"Do you realize that since you found such ways to modify the infernal shell and win the battle, you will fight all future battles without the aid of that demon?" Ranilok's 'Master' questioned.

"Yes, I know. That might have bothered me before, but not anymore. It's my wish to finish this now, so that maybe I'll be worth Cin'donia's time… and the time of the friends I left behind. I will find a way to repay you in full." Ranilok stopped and dropped to one knee before the spider, pledging his will to the beast's orders.

"I believe you will elf… I believe you will." Neru'Rekan nodded and motioned for Ranilok to rise and follow as they headed deeper into Nerub'Itjahz.


	6. Blood Capture

**Chapter 6: Blood Capture**

"So you just left?" Lily asked Nia as she sat beside her friend on a wagon that belonged to her employer. The delivery girl was allowed to use this wagon to make trips to Silvermoon.

"I had to. I told him that if he lied I would go." Cin'donia replied as Ranilok's house got further and further away.

For the entire walk from the house to where the wagon was kept, Cin'donia had been silent. Lily thought it best not to prod her friend as Nia had somehow not felt anger before.

"But how did he lie?" Lily asked as she kept a watch on the slightly wild zhevra that pulled the wagon; the blood elves had imported them from the barrens of Kalimdor as real horses were hard to find with the undead plague in Lordaeron.

"He knew about M'uru and he didn't tell me." Cin'donia frowned at the memories of what had happened only a few hours before.

"So what's so important about that?" Lily began to look closer at her friend. Seeing Nia in the sunlight for the first time since they had met only made her look prettier, but Lily was looking for why her friend was so naive, perhaps she had been hit over the head or something.

"M'uru doesn't deserve a fate like that. He couldn't possibly have done anything! It must be the greed that Ranilok told me blood elves have. They must be keeping him for greed's sake somehow." Cin'donia ignored the fact that she was mentioning the race that she appeared to be a member of as if it was not hers and tried to get her point across.

Very surprised at the remarks, Lily whispered so other travelers wouldn't hear them. "You know M'uru?"

"Yes, I know him. He's kind and giving, just as every member of his race is." Cin'donia chose her words carefully this time as to not identify herself as a naaru.

"So what are these gems you're wearing? In all of the months I've known you I never asked about them. Are they religious?" Lily noticed how the gems shined in the sun and figured that maybe they were responsible for the memory loss, having magic so close to one's head.

"No, they're just there." Cin'donia dismissed the distraction and tried to get back on topic. "Ranilok greedily wanted to keep me with him by not telling me about M'uru. He said he wanted to get rid of his greed, but I don't know what to think now that he did this."

"But did you ever ask him?" Lily prodded.

Looking down sheepishly, Nia answered. "No… but…"

"No? You left him over a lie he didn't even really commit?" The delivery girl scolded her friend.

"But Lily…" Cin'donia didn't want to explain her nature to Lily, knowing that it would scare her or drive her away. In that moment, the naaru-elf began to understand why Ranilok did what he had done. "Nevermind. We're all so fickle." Nia frowned.

Continuing to explain, Lily adopted the motherly tone that she sometimes took with Nia. "If you never ask someone to tell you something, especially if it's unpleasant, you can't fault them for not wanting to say it. It's natural to not want to hurt someone or rile them up. Usually it means that you care for them."

Cin'donia was very displeased with herself now. She had let an emotion that she was not in control of cause her to spurn Ranilok while he was recovering. "I regret acting so harshly now… but I've still know way of knowing if it was greed or care. It doesn't change what I have to do. How long will the trip take?"

"What are you going to do up there anyway?" Lily feared the worst based on how her friend despised the imprisonment of M'uru.

Unsure of how severe she would need to be, Nia tried to pacify her friend with a response. "I don't know. It depends on what they are actually doing in the city."

"Just keep yourself safe, please. Promise me you'll stay safe." Lily took a hold of one of Cin'donia's hands, squeezing it to get her point across.

"That's a promise I can't make. Things will go as they will." Nia looked away as the wagon rolled on towards the front gates of Silvermoon.

--------------

"Bring forth the core." The great behemoth Anub'Jegavith called from his center seat in the great feasting hall of Nerub'Itjahz.

"I am at your service, my lord." The elf responded as he was told to.

Ranilok was shown forward to a small platform before the behemoth and instructed to kneel. The place that they were in was one of the grandest halls of the colony. Aside from its immense size, the walls were intricately decorated with glowing veins of Itjahzi crystal and the ceiling hung with stalactites made of the same. The hanging lights of sorts were also shaped into intricate globes and designs instead of being simple conical shapes. Many rows of feasting tables lined the hall while the place that Anub'Jegavith sat at was the center of a table that lined three sides of a carved stone floor. Each feasting table was not a table by human or elven standards, but it served the same purpose. The tables were raised rows of stone that were smooth on top and had the food stacked high for the spiders to devour. The open side of the main table was where the door that Ranilok had entered from was.

The booming voice of the spider lord silenced the chattering in the cavern as he peered around the large pile of food before him and down at the elf. "Elf. You have stolen from us, defied a caste master, committed countless acts of greed, and cowardly denied such acts in pursuit of escape." The behemoth paused. "However, you have also brought us to the gates of the upper kingdom with your abilities and when you could have quit and left us to death you took control of a construct and defeated a traitorous crypt lord. In addition to this, you have repented from your crimes and sworn yourself to our service in pursuit of redemption."

"Thank you." Ranilok looked up at his lord and spoke quietly.

"Do not 'thank' us. No gift has been granted to you and no service done. Your treatment reflects your merit. Before, you denied your wrongdoings and were forced to repay us; you received nothing. You have chosen to stand for Nerub, so by Nerub you will share the feast for this victory." Anub'Jegavith swung a claw to the side pointed to a slightly raised platform that had been placed at the table for Ranilok.

As the elf walked around the raised row of stone to his seat, he thought about the spider kingdom. Despite being very darkness oriented and ruthless, this kingdom was the most ordered and logical of any kingdom. Passions and emotions that the spiders labeled as 'humanoid' were nonexistent. He would never be forgiven by the spiders, but for them forgiveness did not exist. Forgiveness implied a form of caring that the spiders seemed incapable of. Only actions spoke, not intentions or emotions, for the nerubians.

"You have impressed Anub'Jegavith, Ranilok." Neru'Rekan was seated next to the elf. "The kingdom will respect you now. They may dislike you, but they will respect you." The warlock lifted a large piece of seal meat from the table and consumed it.

The feast before them was composed of many exotic foods that Ranilok had a hard time identifying. Some of the simpler rations were familiar to the elf from his earlier stays in the colony, he ate from those first, not wanting to upset any of the other guests by putting food in his mouth that he could not stomach.

"I did hardly anything, master." Ranilok mused as he looked for something that was fully cooked and dead on the table.

"It's not how much you did that's important. What is important is the fact that you did it. You cast aside your pride and pledged your service to us. I told you, many times, that they all hated you for your cowardice and for being dominated. You won the battle yourself and defended the children of Nerub. The hatred does not remain when the causes for it are removed." Neru'Rekan spoke logically.

"In Quel'thalas, I wish such honest gestures were appreciated. That's how I found my way to doing what I did. Nearly all blood elves are filled with greed for power. It wasn't that way when we were high elves." Ranilok thought of when a high elf could be away from the sunwell for ages as he was in Northrend and show no ill effects of magic withdrawal through the use of meditation.

"Your society is destroying itself then? If it is the way that you describe it, it must be." Neru'Rekan lifted an ornate horn-shaped goblet full of a strange smelling liquid and drank it dry.

Pausing for a moment at the thinly veiled truth being stated so obviously, Ranilok looked to the spider with resolution. "Yes, it is destroying itself. I can no longer be a part of it. I will have to find a new place to live when I return from here."

"You are becoming less of a fool, elf. Ask Nerub to keep it that way." Neru'Rekan put the goblet down on the table and watched the floor as the rest of the crowd finished eating.

A side door on the same wall as the main door opened and several different looking nerubians entered the room. The procession came to the center of the floor and formed a circle. Once the circle was formed, the spiders began an intricate dance that seemed to have significance to the entire hall. The flurry of legs was nearly hypnotizing to Ranilok as he had never seen such movements before. The dancers were young female nerubians. Each of them had the potential to become a queen and viewing the losses the spider kingdom had incurred to the scourge, each of them was almost definitely bound for that future. As the dance continued, six initiates of each caste entered the floor from the side door and took positions around the dancers. The initiates joined in with motions of their arms only, shaping glyphs in the air as a final spider came to the center of the floor.

A pedestal of crystal formed underneath the spider in the center and lifted him above the others. This spider was dressed very ornately; Ranilok could only assume that he was a caste leader or a scholar. Issuing loud and dark sounding chants in nerubian, the spider began to tell some sort of tale to the rest of the crowd. Ranilok didn't know the language, but he could tell that the spider held the attention of every being in the room, even Anub'Jegavith.

After the dance ended, Ranilok walked from the hall alongside Neru'Rekan and spoke with his master once more. "What were they saying?" the elf asked.

"They were retelling the history of our race from its birth as the great insect empire of Azj'Aqir. They spoke of our ascent into order, the banishment of the forgotten ones to deep beneath Azjol-Nerub, and the embrace of Nerub as our progenitor."

"So then you weren't always as ordered as this, master?" Ranilok looked around at the halls of Nerub'Itjahz, which were always hewn and carved in the stone rather than left as plain caves.

"No, we learned as you have that greed and pride were downfalls. Our greed was greed for dominance and greed for land. The order of Nerub showed us that only law could preserve our race." Neru'Rekan spoke Nerub's name with reverence every time that he said it.

"It makes my task seem more real knowing that your race accomplished it." Ranilok began to look through his bags for a rune of teleportation.

Not taking the task lightly, Neru'Rekan reminded Ranilok of the timing. "Yes, but it took our empire hundreds of years to establish order. You do not have such time."

"But I am only one being. I can hope that it will happen much quicker." Ranilok defended his belief to his master.

"Hope is a dream, only action provides results. I will return you now; you have little time until the final incursion into the colony that we wish to retake. I suggest that you rejuvenate yourself during this time." Neru'Rekan began to prepare the spell to send Ranilok back to his home.

"I have things I must take care of. I'll go back myself this time." Ranilok found a rune and prepared to go to Silvermoon.

"This is about that Naaru that you gave a body isn't it? You're unwise to divert your attention to her at a time like this." The warlock warned.

"You value order and logic, but I value her. I must attend to things that I value. Please excuse me, my master." The elf disappeared as the spell whisked him away to Quel'thalas.

--------------

"Don't come any further" Cin'donia looked to Lily as the pair approached Farstriders Square.

"Nia." Lily had come to use the same nickname that Ranilok did. "You're going to try and free him aren't you?"

"He shouldn't be here. Can't you feel it? The taint of demons, greed, and perversion surrounds us. What kind of people do you live among?" Nia looked around harshly at the different elves trading tainted substances and at the crystals that floated everywhere.

"I never lived among them. I have business deals here but my life hasn't changed since before the Sunwell was destroyed." Lily tried to defend herself.

"There is so much hate and evil in this city, I can see the hearts here and I can see how Ranilok was led astray by them." Cin'donia was still unsure about her creator.

Lily was becoming annoyed by the arguing and had just about had it with the contrast of strange abilities and lack of knowledge that her friend displayed. "How can you sense that? They look just like other elves to me and you're judging them all as bad!"

"I just can. I'll tell you some other time." Nia tried to wiggle out of explaining.

"It's those gems isn't it? You're not like me or any of the elves here, are you?" The common delivery girl caught her friend's arm and touched the crystal, feeling that it connected seamlessly with the skin.

"No… I'm not." Nia turned to leave.

"Well then tell me what you are. You're my friend and I won't leave over it! I want to help!" Lily almost begged Cin'donia.

Breaking free and running off into the square, Cin'donia called back. "I can't let you."

Meanwhile, Ranilok appeared in a flash of arcane power in one of the side rooms of the Sunspire. The elf quickly ran out of the room and towards the exit as some of the elves looked out of room at him in surprise. He knew that Cin'donia would have come here after M'uru and he hoped to make it out of the city to catch her before she reached the entrance.

"You there! What are you doing running around in here?" A magister called out as Ranilok turned to corner towards the exit of the spire.

"Leaving." Ranilok answered without turning as he continued out the main hallway.

The elf that questioned Ranilok blinked ahead of him and cast slow. "You! You're Ranilok aren't you? Why are your eyes blue? Have some fel, it will make you feel better." The elf held up an evil looking green vial that he had been drinking from.

"I don't have time to deal with you!" Ranilok yelled at him as the slowing spell wore off and he tried to push past the magister.

"Careful!" The magister warned. "I know that you were sent from the city. How about you turn over those crystals of yours and maybe I'll lift the expulsion."

"Greedy beast." Ranilok easily recognized the trait he had become disdainful of. "I wouldn't give you a crystal even if I still had them." The mage snapped his fingers and turned the magister into a pig, hoping that his action would not rile up the guards.

Ranilok exited the spire quickly, looking around the square for the easiest way that he could get to the front of the city. As the elf's eyes passed over the benches by the grand fountain in the area, he saw a familiar face; the girl who delivered the food.

Running up and taking her hand, Ranilok questioned her. "Lily! Someone must have been buying the food from you all those weeks. Have you seen her?"

Startled by her employer running up so quickly, Lily jumped slightly then stood up. "Oh… Ranilok. I've seen her… Sir."

"Drop the formalities. My name is Ranilok and yours is Lily. Where did Cin'donia go?" Ranilok spoke so quickly that he could barely be understood.

Looking to where Cin'donia was, Lily sighed. The girl was sad that her friend didn't want to accept help, but now that Ranilok as here and was being 'informal' she saw a way in. "I don't want to tell you… unless you let me help."

"Fine, fine, just tell me! We may be short on time." Ranilok pleaded.

"Don't just write me off in a rush! I want to know what she is too. She isn't like us is she?" Lily still withheld the information.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Ranilok tried to cast aside the topic in pursuit of the information that he sought.

Speaking slowly, trying to calm Ranilok down, Lily rebutted. "Nia is my friend too. I've gotten to know her since this all started, but she never explains anything. I want to know why she is so smart and empathetic but doesn't know how to live in decency."

Ranilok sat down and tried to compose himself as Lily sat on the bench beside him. "I may not have a lot of time. I'll try to make this short." The elf took a breath to explain. "She's a naaru living in a body that I made from those magic crystals that the magi kicked me out of the city for withholding."

"…" Lily stared at Ranilok. "You're just saying something outlandish to make me be quiet."

"I know it sounds weird, but it's the truth as simple as I can make it. Doesn't it make sense now that she came here over M'uru? M'uru is also a naaru. Now, where is she?" Ranilok asked again.

Still unsure if Ranilok was telling the truth, Lily paused for a moment and then decided that the explanation would have to do for the moment. "Farstrider's square. I think she's gone to try and free him." Lily looked worried over her friend, knowing that Cin'donia would definitely be in danger.

"Then we have to go quickly, take this." Ranilok handed Lily a small pink orb. "This is an arcane beacon; I can open a portal on it. You need to stay hidden. Whatever happens, try and keep track of Cin'donia and keep yourself safe. If I can't succeed in getting her to come away from this suicide, I'll need to be able to get back to both of you somehow. Good luck." The mage ran off into the square to look for Cin'donia.

"Thank you. I'll do my best." Lily smiled as Ranilok continued to head into the square.

The building that M'uru was kept in had multiple floors. M'uru was kept in the bottom floor that only could be accessed from a side entrance or from jumping through a hole in the main floor and causing oneself grievous injury. Cin'donia had easily felt the presence of M'uru, but she had still gone in on the main floor to look for him first. The naaru-elf looked over the railing and down at her beleaguered kin. M'uru wasn't even behind any sort of bars or chains; he only had magi draining him. It was like the elves wanted him displayed as an exhibit of their greed and misuse of the light. Nia nearly began to cry when she looked over the railing, seeing the paladins below greedily take the powers of light from the captive.

"What have they done to you? This is almost worse than what happened to be at the hands of Sargeras." Cin'donia tried to think a message to the naaru, the form of communication that she had used before she was captured. The woman knew that M'uru would be able to pick up the message even if she didn't have the power to fully project it any longer.

"I know your thoughts… I know the melody of your heart." M'uru contacted Cin'donia through telepathy. "Cin'donia. You're here. I've not seen you in what seems like an age. We presumed you dead and mourned your loss. What has happened to you? You are wearing the same form as my captors."

"It isn't the same, M'uru, it only appears the same. This is all I have left and the only way that I've escaped my own imprisonment. How did you get captured?" Cin'donia held onto the rail and continued to converse with M'uru.

"I was guarding the Tempest Keep when we lost it to the blood elves and I was captured. What of you, sister naaru?" M'uru continued to focus his sight on Cin'donia's soul. He no longer saw the elf, only saw the naaru that had been.

"You know that I was sent to defeat the evil one…" Nia looked down in shame. "I lost. I have to get you out of here."

"I've tried many times. The entire city will turn to stop us! We need more of our kin." M'uru lamented. "You must find A'dal and gain his aid!"

"You could be dead by then. If you die here then the amount of voidwalkers created from all of these greedy and damned souls would be basis for an invasion by the legion. I'm getting you out of here! Is there a way down to that chamber?" Cin'donia demanded, set on freeing her kin.

"It's outside. The 'paladins' stand guard in case I try to escape. I can't believe that they have the audacity to call themselves that. I don't want to see you hurt again, no matter the form you wear. Please think more on this." M'uru pleaded, knowing the force that they stood against in escaping.

Wordlessly, Cin'donia walked outside and began to make for the entrance to the basement chamber that M'uru was being kept in. As the woman tried to blend in with the other elves on the path, she ran directly into Ranilok.

"Nia!" He exclaimed and then got quiet so no one else would hear. "You're trying to free him aren't you? This is madness! Please, don't do this!"

Even though the girl could not see greed in Ranilok's heart as the motivation for what he said, she still cast him aside and accused him. "You've never really cared about anyone except your self have you?"

"I don't just care about myself! I care about you!" Ranilok looked upset. "I didn't tell you because I knew you'd get yourself hurt or killed trying to do this. It's not greed; it's love."

"Do you think you know the meaning of love? You didn't last time." The woman still tried to deny what she had realized and what Ranilok professed.

Pulling her close suddenly, Ranilok kissed Cin'donia on the lips, trying to get his point across. Cin'donia felt a mix of sensations that she had never encountered before and wasn't prepared for. Going slightly limp in his arms, she looked up at him and waited for him to say something about what he had just done.

"It's called a kiss; it's how I say that you mean so much to me. You've helped me more than anyone ever has! You were always there when I was drifting between this world and the realm of the spiders. It was my want to return to you and prove that I wasn't all about greed that pushed me to take control of my life and try to set it right." Ranilok looked down into Cin'donia's rich blue eyes and spoke comfortingly to her.

"I… I believe you, Ranilok." The woman rested her head on Ranilok's shoulder and whispered into his ear. "I need you to trust me right now. Whatever happens, whether we live or die, this is something that must be done. Someone has to stand up to all of the greed and evil in this city. We have to at least be able to say that we tried and didn't walk away as evil and oppression stood firm."

Lifting her back up and looking into her eyes again, Ranilok committed himself. "Alright then, I will help you." Ranilok kissed Cin'donia's forehead and let go of her. "I'll take the guards up here once you get him out of the basement. We'll make for the west side of the city and the dead scar. If we can get as far north as the Sunwell plateau, we might find sanctuary."

"Thank you, Ranilok." Nia calmed herself down and walked into the basement of the building as Ranilok slowly moved his way into the bushes to mask his initial attacks.

As Cin'donia walked down the stairs, she thought seriously about what she was planning. This would be the first time since she had returned that she would have to call upon the light to do anything aside from healing. Using the light as a weapon was a thin line to walk between justice and abuse. Nia knew that the light was with her and that her cause was just, but she could only hope that the light could outside the darkness and corruption that ran through the city.

Outside, Ranilok was having similar doubts. The magister that he had turned into a pig deserved such treatment obviously, but Ranilok couldn't tell the corrupt elves and the good elves apart as easily as Cin'donia could. The blood knights were all guilty for their capture of M'uru and their abuse of the light, but were the people in the square something to avoid or harm? The lawful nature of the nerubians had rubbed off on the elf and he couldn't see his way to harming someone who did not deserve it. Additionally, the number of guards at the door was too great for him to attack and hold. The elf sat in the bushes and tried to think of a way to aid in the escape without causing harm to those who were uninvolved.

Cin'donia also thought about Ranilok as she processed down into the chamber. She could tell that she meant a lot to him, and the 'kiss' that he gave her made her feel for him in a way that she didn't know how to react to. Whatever the nerubians had done to him, they'd done it well and quickly. It was Cin'donia's true hope that her friend could have the strength to stand up to the atrocity of M'uru's capture alongside her.

The leader of the blood knights, Lady Liadrin, was away at the Sunspire that day. With their leader gone, there was no one who could easily resist Cin'donia present in the basement. Cin'doia walked into the room and towards the small depression in the floor where M'uru was held steady by the blood elves' spells.

Approaching her as she got so close to M'uru, one of the paladins questioned her actions. "Are you here to join our order, miss?"

The crystals on Cin'donia's skin lit up as she turned to the blood knight. "I'm here to end it."

The paladin didn't notice the magic that Cin'donia was beginning; he was too busy laughing at the concept of some insignificant elf that was not even magical enough to have glowing eyes. Light filled the room in a blinding flash as time seemed to stop for all of the elves within. The spells holding M'uru immediately ceased as Cin'donia rushed to him.

"Quickly, we don't have a lot of time." Nia ran to M'uru and took hold of part of his body to lead him.

"I cannot move very quickly, Cin'donia. My energies are constantly drained by these thieving elves." M'uru produced several discordant tones as he strained to leave the building.

"Do what you can. We're not alone." Cin'donia said, thankful that Ranilok was waiting outside for her.

"Ok… four of them. I can't polymorph four of them." Ranilok looked at the guards and then was drawn away by a gaudy looking female blood elf that was walking nearby in the square. "That's what I need, this shouldn't actually hurt her." The elf quickly turned the female that he had sighted into a sheep and watched as the four blood knights ran to her aid in pursuit of the woman's charms for her curing.

"Quickly, this way!" Nia ran out of the door with M'uru; he was beginning to move quicker as the effects of the draining waned.

"He's escaping! Quickly! Call the magisters!" The paladin that had spoken to Cin'donia ran out of the building as the time-lapse faded.

Keeping the light flowing from the gems on her body, Cin'donia continuously cast time lapses on the crowd outside. Anyone who resisted the time lapse and gave chase became subject to Ranilok's dragonbreath spell and his limited number of ice spells. The goal of the trio wasn't to kill, only to evade and escape. Wishing he had the infernal shell with him, Ranilok tried to keep up in between the times that he was suppressing the pursuers.

The trio exited Farstriders Square and headed towards the western side of the city, the escape seemed so simple and full of hope until this point. Unfortunately, the word of their deed had already reached the Sunspire. A stiff wall of resistance stood before them in the form of twenty guards and Lady Liadrin herself.

"You'll never give up will you? That is why the light is so alluring to use in combat. If you know how to harness it, it never runs out." The lady of the blood knights looked towards M'uru and addressed the creature.

"And you'll never fully dominate the light. You may think that you are able to bestow powers upon others, but only the true followers of the light will achieve its best abilities." M'uru's somewhat musical voice could be heard throughout the square.

"Just go. We don't have time to argue!" Cin'donia charged into the crowd, trying to stun them as she had the others. Unfortunately, the tall shields held by the elves and Lady Liadrin's stolen powers kept them from being affected. The guards quickly caught and held her still as a rogue sapped Ranilok in place and the guards took hold of him too.

M'uru vaulted himself over the crowd, but the only place he could go beyond them was straight into the awaiting spellcasts of ten restrainers and spellbreakers. Ranilok quickly woke from the sap as both he and Cin'donia struggled to get free of the guards. The pair cast more spells and injured a good number of the guards, but more kept coming until a small army had almost assembled on their position.

"You're foolish to try and free him." Lady Liadrin approached Cin'donia and grinned at her. "You'll be put so far away in our jails that no one will even know your name."

Catching some of her guards with a flash of light, Nia broke an arm free and slapped Liadrin squarely across the face. "You evil woman."

Shaking her head for a moment and scoffing at the woman's audacity, Lady Liadrin punched Cin'donia squarely in the stomach so hard that the naaru-elf doubled up in pain. "You have interesting powers for an elf. Tempest keep will be the place for you." The blood knight mistress laughed as she turned to Ranilok. "And for you… you'll be the one to rot alone in the dungeons for this act."

"No! Nia!" Ranilok kept struggling. "I'll not lose you as I lost my… old… friends."

"It's ok, Ranilok. We lost… but we stood for what we knew was right." Nia still tried to struggle as the guards walked off with her and the channelers led M'uru back to the basement in Farstrider's Square.

Slowly as Ranilok reached out for Nia, he began to fade again. Smiling defiantly at Lady Liadrin, Ranilok was glad for once that he was being taken. "You will not keep her for long! Cin'donia! Keep yourself safe! I love you!" the reformed blood elf yelled to his creation.

In that moment, Cin'donia saw Ranilok doing the right thing to the point of his own capture and possible death. Nia admired what he had done, more than she knew how to express. Only a single phrase came to the naaru-elf as she tried to think of how to share her feelings.

"I love you too!" Cin'donia finally yelled back to her creator, feeling for him more than ever before because of his actions that day.

"Stop him! What is he casting?" Lady Liadrin knew that if Ranilok got away he could stir up trouble in the city.

"He's not casting anything!" One of the guards said as Ranilok disappeared. "Something else pulled him out.

"Search the area and take this one to Firewing point for transportation to Tempest Keep. Let all of our brethren who stand with us know of the faces of these perpetrators."

"Yes, Maam." The guards snapped to as the mission to free the Naaru of Silvermoon failed and both Ranilok and Cin'donia were dragged off to uncertain fates.


	7. The Battle of Azjol Seraq

**Chapter 7: The Battle of ****Azjol-Seraq**

Ranilok appeared in a more composed state than he had the last time that he came to Nerub'Itjahz. Looking around, Ranilok knew he was not in Nerub'Itjahz, but he was somewhere that he recognized. The elf was in the cavern that he had defeated Anub'Ikthil in; he recognized it from the raised door that led into the upper kingdom. As before, Neru'Rekan stood above him. Dropping to one knee this time, he waited for what his orders were, hoping he could strike a bargain to get back to Cin'donia.

"This will be the battle that will reclaim the colony for us." Neru'Rekan began. "The place behind this door is known as Azjol-Seraq, a great library of our scrolls and history lies within. You will burn every hint of undeath from the colony so that we may reclaim it as our own."

"Cin'donia was captured again. She tried to free a naaru that was held prisoner in the blood elf capital, Silvermoon. I need to save her, master." Ranilok mentioned.

"Oh?" The spider questioned. "Are you forsaking your oath of service to us over a concern of your own?"

Realizing what this might mean, Ranilok thought for a while. He wanted her back because he loved her, but if he were to forsake everything for her than would he be any better that when he began? The elf still owed the spider kingdom more than he could ever repay. The cave was silent for quite a while as Ranilok considered the repercussions of his choice. Finally, the request that Cin'donia had made came back to Ranilok's memory. Nia had asked him to trust her; Ranilok would have to trust her to stay alive while he performed his duties in the spider kingdom.

"Of course not." Ranilok stood up. "If I were to do that, I would be greedy. Where is the construct? I will take it and…" the elf's eyes lit up with a bit of fire magic within him. "…they will all fall! They will cease to exist so quickly that you won't be able to comprehend it!"

Nodding in approval of the elf's lawful choice, Neru'Rekan extended a pincer towards where the shell was waiting. The infernal shell had mostly been returned its original state, except it had been given hands that could retract and extend from the thick ends of the rock. Ranilok was pleased with the change; he knew that he could turn the hands into whatever weapons he needed for the battle. Climbing into the chamber, Ranilok grinned as the troops lined up behind him. The construct stood in between the great door to Azjol-Seraq and the floor where he had slain the crypt lord.

Ranilok approached the door in the construct and looked at the shoring that the nerubians had constructed. The door opened inward, so it consisted of bars set into the ground with ropes joining the bars and the door in order to keep it from opening inwards. The elf had no idea if the undead were waiting on the other side to attack or if the door had been sealed on the far side. Remembering the stories that the lich king had once been an orc and knowing that humans and elves alike had been raised into the undead army, Ranilok considered the tactics at hand.

"Stand back. The door may be trapped." He called back to the leader that had congratulated his victory the last time.

"We do not back down from a battle!" The nerubian called back.

"I'm not asking you to back down." Ranilok was slightly annoyed. "Come in from the side after the doors are open."

Agreeing, the nerubian general moved the troops to either side of the stairs and waited for Ranilok. The elf knew that this would be a definitive battle, and he had to do it quickly enough to save the woman he loved while still completing it cleanly.

"Hold on, Nia… I'll be right there." Ranilok said quietly to himself as he lit the construct up and put a shoulder into the door.

The door creaked, but didn't open fully. Ranilok could hear the yells of angered ghouls on the other side as he jammed into the door once more. As the elf pounded the entryway a final time, it burst through, triggering a cascade of meat wagons that were seated in the main cavern. Thinking quickly, Ranilok used his fire magic for something aside from lighting the shell and cast a fireball on each plagued corpse, cooking the disease and rot out of it before it smashed onto the stairs or against the construct.

Ranilok quickly took a gauge of the scene: the room beyond was full of meat wagons and dark acolytes that were busy loading them with the broken bodies of beasts from the depths of the caves. Above the meat wagons, gargoyles circled and screeched at the intruders.

Not wanting to have to endure another round of corpses, Ranilok made ready to charge in. "Take down the gargoyles once the meat wagons have stopped."

Leaving the shell in the form it was in and retracting the hands, Ranilok charged into the fray, ignoring the gargoyles above and began bashing the wagons apart. The gargoyles immediately descended to try and claw at the construct. Ranilok thought that he would be able to burn them off, but their stone skin was resistant to his flames. As the elf bashed through the last wagons, the gargoyles lifted him from the ground in attempt to drop the construct and use its weight to against it.

Bracing for the impact, Ranilok suddenly felt the construct start to slowly lower again as the gargoyles fell off. The nerubians had charged in and snared the gargoyles to the ground, killing them easily. There were still a few wagons remaining that Ranilok quickly dispatched before he returned to the general of the spiders to question the action.

"There were still meat wagons. Your warriors could have been in trouble." The elf brought up.

"This is no time to talk. You were sent here with an army at your back because you need it. If you were powerful enough to charge in and clear this colony alone, we would not waste the resources to support you." The general reminded the elf.

"I see." Ranilok commented simply as he turned towards the inner side of the colony.

As soon as the elf had turned, the doors to the inner side of the colony swung open and ghouls began to flood out at such a speed that they nearly got stuck in the doors. Lighting back up, Ranilok turned and rolled the infernal into a ball, controlling its path to sweep through the scourge ranks as the nerubians kept a wall of web and ice between the ghouls and the main army.

The nerubians fought fiercely to retake their colony. A library of scrolls from Azjol-Nerub was not a prize to be passed up; their blood and toil would earn it. After the main cavern had been cleared, the nerubians webbed every door to the inside except one with enchanted webbing. The spiders were smart enough to know that they should only leave one opening for attack and only clear one area of the colony at a time.

With Ranilok in the lead, the spiders rampaged through the tunnels of the ancient spider kingdom, turning plagued flesh into ash. The number of ghouls and other undead horrors that had taken residence within the halls of Azjol-Seraq was unnatural compared to any previous force that the spiders had faced; something was important in this colony. Ranilok did exactly as he had sworn; the undead fell faster than leaves on a windy and cold autumn day as the elf drove the construct onwards. No cavern was left untouched and no tunnel unclear.

After clearing the entire colony except for the passageway that led from the entrance hall, the army moved in to finish the battle. The rooms beyond the final door were the halls used for feasting and audience along with the great library that the nerubians desired. The force of nerubians was greatly diminished as spiders had been left behind to close all other passages out of the colony permanently. The spiders of Nerub'Itjahz wanted to isolate this colony from the rest of Azjol-Nerub so that it would be safe from the scourge forever.

Stopping on a ledge above a stairway down into the main feasting and audience hall, Ranilok stared at the floor in surprise. "By Nerub, what are those?"

The general of the nerubians quickly came forwards and looked into the chamber, gaining an expression that was not normal for any of the spiders… fear. "They are called faceless ones."

The floor below was filled with strange creatures that had only shapes coming off of their necks; no mouths or eyes. Purple runes of warding swirled around them cast by necromancers that stood around each of the beasts. A portal in the room center produced more of the faceless ones as the necromancers continuously failed to control the ones that they had summoned and had to destroy them. The portal was held open by four obsidian statues that sat on raised pedestals.

"Isn't it wonderful?" A cold voice issued from across the great chamber. "Even these ancient beasts will be bent to the master's will."

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"Oh no! They got her!" Lily walked into the court of the sun and saw the near-army of guards around M'uru and the smaller group restraining Cin'donia.

It was horrible to see her friend in a fix like this. Not wanting to be found and captured too, Lily instinctively hid in a tall hedge that stood next to one of the buildings. Cin'donia still tried to resist as they led her off, despite the pain from being punched so savagely by Lady Liadrin.

"You're so much braver than any elf I know, Nia." Lily sat down in the hedge and hugged her knees, disappointed in herself.

As the elf moped there, she didn't realize that her foot was barely sticking out of the hedge. Lily only noticed as someone on the road side of the hedge tripped over it and called out in surprise. Quickly, Lily pulled her foot in and scooted back, trying to hide.

"Ey! Who be in dere?" A trollish voice came from by the road as Lily looked out under the hedge and saw blue feet walking closer.

The troll began to pull aside the hedge as Lily scooted back behind it into a small dark pocket between the building and the hedge. Cowering again, the elf hoped that she wouldn't be discovered. Lily couldn't hope for long because the troll came through the hedge a moment later and looked down at her.

"Why yah be trippin me? Ah dun like dis citah alreadah an now elves be trippin me." The troll asked about what had just happened.

"I didn't mean to! Please don't hurt me!" The elf girl didn't look up at the troll.

"Ah dun be hurtin yah if yah din't mean it… Ah prollah dun hurt yah even if yah did mean it. Why yah be back 'ere anahway?" The troll innocently inquired.

"The guards took my friend." Lily cried. "I didn't want to be caught too… but someone else asked me to look after my friend for them. What's your name anyway?" Lily finally looked up at the troll. The troll who stood over her was a red-haired female troll with intricately stitched robes that were many shades of purple.

"Mah name be Xainia, wha bout yah?" The troll sat down in front of Lily.

"Lily." The elf crawled forwards and peered out of the hedge. "Oh no! They're opening a portal! I'll never be able to find her!" Lily looked disheartened again.

"Yah can find 'er. Gah in dah portal." Xainia looked out of the hedge also.

"But it could go anywhere! I've never even been south of Tranquillen." Lily complained as she still shook a bit.

"Yah wanted tah help dis friend ah yahs? If yah din't yah'd not be watchin' ova em." Xainia continued as Lily struggled to decipher the troll accent.

Lily still pouted as Xainia tried to talk her down. "I did… but I didn't know she'd be getting into something like this. She tried to free that Naaru they're leading back into the square."

"But yah took alla dat up when yah offa'd tah help." Xainia looked over to the crowd of guards leading the Naaru away. "Dat definitely be sometin heroic."

Still shaking her head, Lily tried to disagree. "I'm just a common girl. Adventures like this aren't for me."

Xainia, who had been through more ordeals than anyone could explain in short, saw a bit of herself in the elf and tried to offer some advice. "Yah be whatevah yah make yahself. C'mon." The troll stood up and offered her hand. "If she tried tah free dat naaru den ah can't let 'er be hauled off eithah."

Lily took hold of Xainia's hand and was instantly pulled up as the troll ran out of the hedge and dragged her along. The common girl was still slightly hesitant, especially since this troll had so suddenly taken to helping her, but she moved along as quickly as she could. Just as the portal began to shut, Xainia jumped through it with Lily and whisked the both of them away to whatever stronghold Cin'donia had been transported to.

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Across the cavern from Ranilok on the ledge that led into the great library, a lich stood and stared across at the army that had nearly scoured the scourge from the colony.

"So… this is the killer of Anub'Ikthil. Abandon your hope. You will fail in stopping the master from controlling these faceless ones."

Responding as Neru'Rekan once had, Ranilok made the construct glare back at the lich. "Hope does not exist here, only action."

"So be it. Face our wrath… our actions." The lich retreated into the library as the faceless ones glared up, some of them partially under the control of the necromancers.

Looking at the situation, Ranilok issued orders. "I'll take the faceless ones. I should be able to destroy them."

"No, elf." The general, Neru'Delgan, stopped Ranilok. "You have power, but you are not equipped to face these creatures. You cannot let the power you have been given blind you. We will destroy these ancient enemies while you dispatch the lich."

Realizing that he was letting the power get to him, Ranilok cast aside any notion of pride and began to walk around the raised outside of the room as the spiders flooded down into the center. Using ancient spells that ran in the bloodline of the race, even the warriors were able to easily combat the chaos of the faceless ones. The necromancers attempted to fight alongside the faceless ones, but the faceless ones that were not fully controlled targeted the necromancers before the nerubians. One of the more powerful casters in the group shouted dark words in nerubian, causing the obsidian statues to close the portal and break free of their bases and attack the scourge instead. Ranilok entered the hallway to the library and looked back at how well the battle was going. It was obvious to him that he had underestimated the spiders; he would never make the mistake of being so prideful again.

As he stared out of the hallway, an arcane door suddenly formed between him and the army. Ranilok pounded on the door a few times, realizing that it would not budge even to the construct; he would have to face the lich alone. Slowly, Ranilok piloted the construct down the hallway towards the lich. As he moved, Ranilok changed the infernal into a more humanoid form to facilitate dodging the lich's spells. The elf had faced a lich years ago when he had crossed Northrend with Methuselah, so he knew what they were capable of.

"Why do you fight me? These insects pressed you into service and took who you were." A dark voice entered Ranilok's head.

"You…" Ranilok thought for a moment as he kept walking and looking about for the source of the voice. "The Lich King." The elf stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ah good, you are not completely daft." The dark voice continued.

"Where are you? I'll kill you in the name of Nerub." Ranilok called out as he looked around the hallway that surrounded him again, walking further along to search the later parts of the hall.

Laughing scornfully, the Lich King continued. "Oh I am nowhere near you… and you are nowhere near worthy of facing me. My stare would reduce your construct to dust. I can see you in there… elf."

Thinking back defiantly for the leader of the undead to see, Ranilok replied. "I don't care if you can see me. I serve Nerub and my master Neru'Rekan because it is my duty to. I have wronged the spider kingdom and I will repay them and my old friends by destroying your armies."

"Repayment? Repayment is only admitting that you are weak. I was enslaved by the legion to 'repay' them for my attempts of escape and my betrayal… but my power… my raw uninhibited power!" the Lich King yelled almost emotionally. "My power destroyed the meaning of restitution. Power is existence! If you have no power, you cease to exist. Now my powers are limitless and my existence is eternal!"

"Your point?" Ranilok shot down the undead's bravado as he had once to Neru'Rekan.

"You want power too don't you? Join me and I could grant you the power to forget the spiders and take everything that is theirs as your own." The fallen king continued.

"Your power? You don't share power… you enslave!" Ranilok stopped walking as he yelled back. "What do you want out of this anyway? Peace? You'll never have peace because your peace is when everything else is dead or controlled. You will never kill us all."

"I don't want peace, stupid elf. If there were peace, then I would be bereft of the sweet sounds of the suffering of the innocent. I would be deprived of the melody of pain and torment that I enjoy as revenge for my suffering. It is my destiny to be a scourge upon this world… no… upon the entire great dark beyond!" The voice that Ranilok had been arguing with began to rant.

"Destiny… I thought that I had a destiny once." Ranilok thought back to how he had been so short ago and then remembered what Cin'donia had said to him. Confidently, Ranilok repeated it for the Lich King. "Evil beings pile together the failures of their lives, take the opposite, and call it destiny."

Ignoring the philosophy, the Lich King continued to try and push into Ranilok's psyche. "Good and evil don't exist. Only dominance, submission, and resistance exist in this world. You can't deny that you desire power. My victory over your race couldn't have been more complete. I not only ravaged your population and lands, my actions caused your race to turn to corruption. The sorrow that I sowed into your people by taking your pitiful Sunwell corrupted every soul among you into power craving demonic zealots. If I were to offer any of your leaders enough power, they would gladly submit to me."

"That is where you're wrong. There are those among us who are not corrupt… there are even those who have given up corruption. I was a blood elf… I am one no more. My eyes shine blue and they glare hate at your very existence! Your power is a power that I would never desire!" The elf exclaimed disdainfully as he pushed the construct on into the great library of Azjol'Seraq.

"Then you are doomed… along with all of your friends and the spiders that foolishly back your efforts." The voice of the Lich King faded from the elf's mind.

The library was a circular room that was taller and wider than the feasting halls of both Nerub'Itjahz and Azjol'Seraq combined. The books and scrolls were only stored around the outside of the chamber while the floor was filled with broken stone pedestals and raised areas that had been used for reading and practicing magic. Ranilok was immediately hit with an ice bolt as he entered the room. Grunting at the cold, the elf lit up the shell and thawed himself out as he looked for where the lich was in the room.

"You will die for defying my master!" The faithful servant called as he caused a great dark circle of decay to open underneath Ranilok.

Jumping from it quickly, Ranilok used his magic to light the torches in the dark chamber and reveal the lich. "You're the only one left. What kind of chance do you think you have if we've gotten this far?" The elf tried to dishearten the lich.

"Ah, careful, careful. We can't have you burning the scrolls that I plan to use later." The lich raised an arcane shield around the shelves, not shaken by Ranilok's words. "By the way… how is it that you exist in such a shell, elf?"

Ranilok suddenly unlit the shell as he diverted all of his power to the chamber of the construct; the lich was using arcane spells to try and crush the chamber around Ranilok. Straining as he tried to utter spells quicker than the lich, Ranilok slowly established a shield around himself. During the time that he had been protecting the chamber, the lich had been busy doing other things to the construct. The great and powerful titan-like body that the shell had resembled was now nothing more than a solid pile of crystal on the ground with Ranilok inside of it.

Ranilok realized that he was no longer able to see or move the limbs of the construct as he once had. The lich was winning through superior skills in magic, something that was rare among the mindless members of the scourge. Agility had beaten the strong and thick-shelled Anub'Ikthil, but Ranilok had nothing to counter the magic of the lich.

"Do you accept defeat yet, elf?" The voice of the Lich King started back up in the elf's mind.

"Damnit!" Ranilok thought as he tried to influence the crystal but found that the lich was still suppressing any change in the crystal structure. "I have to destroy him. If I don't then he will call re-enforcements and destroy all we have worked for. I can't back down… Cin'donia would never back down." The elf noticed his spell to keep the chamber open rapidly unweaving. "This is it… I've tried so hard, is this the end?"

The elf's mind raced as he thought over all that he had done in the past months; he had gone from being a greedy and self centered blood elf to the high elf that he had once been. He had become more confident than he had been when he went to Northrend to save Methuselah, he had found a cause to serve and realized the deceptions of having power, and he had also discovered what it really meant to love someone. Ranilok knew deep down that he loved Cin'donia, he knew that love was putting the wants and concerns of the one that you love ahead of your own.

At that instant, the chamber squished shut and a small rivulet of blood bubbled from the pile of crystals on the ground. The lich walked up to the pile triumphantly and looked at his defeated enemy as both he and the lich king laughed at the foolishness of the elf. Uninterested, the lich walked away and began to cast a portal to bring in scourge from the Icecrown to destroy the nerubian army that sat outside of the door.

"Shall we follow the spiders back to their colony and wipe them out?" The lich asked his master telepathically.

"Yes, of course. This crystal that they use is intriguing… I will possess all of it." The Lich King replied greedily.

"The first sample is right here…" The lich turned back to the crystal pile but noticed that it was gone. "It was right here… was? Where is he! I saw his blood and I crushed him!" The powerful undead was on guard again as he looked for Ranilok.

"It seems that he was not as dead as you believed… destroy him or be damned in my eyes!" The Lich King's voice left his servant and waited for action.

"Come out little elf…" The lich floated around the room, looking where the pile of crystal used to be.

Suddenly, a flash of fire appeared in the center of the room as blue arcane spirals twisted around it. The core of fire in the room grew larger and mingled with the arcane shapes, which bent and began to spin around the center like rings. Soon, the ball of fire was as much taller than the lich and a humanoid form became visible in the middle of it. It was said that liches and undead could not feel fear; they had been through so much that the emotion no longer existed for them. On this day, the lich that faced the ball of fire and arcane energy in the center of the room felt complete terror at what he saw.

In the middle of a cloud of orange and red flame that was surrounded by great rings of blue arcane energies, Ranilok floated and looked down scornfully at his enemy. "I'll not forgive you. You don't have an ounce of remorse in your being, and neither does your master."

The lich tried in vain to control the energies that swirled around Ranilok, but as he tried to tap into the cloud, fire flowed back down into the lich and blew him against one of the arcane shields on the bookshelves. Ranilok quickly moved the cloud of pure fire and arcane magic towards the lich and stretched out his hand at the undead.

"Mercy! I'll serve you and only you! Together we could destroy the Lich King and rule the undead!" The lich pled for his existence.

"You'd serve any master who would give you power… the only thing that I will grant you is eternal rest." Ranilok swore as power began to coalesce at his hand.

The elf shot a direct beam of destruction at the lich. The spell cut through the lich's core and dissipated off of the arcane shields behind it. Slowly the destruction spread out across the lich's body, turning its bones to inanimate dust. The soul of the lich screamed as it flew upwards from the body, but Ranilok reached out with is other hand and trapped the soul in a globe of fire, burning the lich's essence from the world. The phylactery of the lich disappeared as the soul ceased to exist, along with all of the shielding spells the lich had cast.

Quickly flooding the tunnel at the disappearance of the door, the nerubians came to the chamber and saw the great energy ball that sat at the center. Ranilok looked back at them as the thoughts filled his head… he could overtake them, but he wouldn't. The elf could destroy the Lich King and every undead on the planet for Nerub with the power that he had found. Wouldn't they be pleased with him then? Wouldn't his masters and friends like him if he used all of this power for good? Before the Nerubians could grasp what they stared at, the fire and arcane power ceased. Ranilok slowly floated to the ground and approached the general.

"The lich is dead." Ranilok looked over himself, wondering how his body was intact after the enormous crushing weight that he had felt from the construct.

"Where is the construct?" Neru'Delgan questioned him, not seeing it around.

"Give me a moment to figure it out." Ranilok closed his eyes and concentrated on the power that had flowed through him moments ago.

A great blue light filled the chamber as a blue aura flowed from Ranilok and the shell slowly began to re-construct itself several feet behind him. After a few minutes of this spectacle, the glowing stopped and the construct was standing unharmed behind the elf.

Ranilok breathed heavily as he faced the general and pointed. "There it is."

With his jaw slacked in amazement, Neru'Delgan approached the construct and tapped on it to make sure it was real. "I will not ask what you did to make this happen, Ranilok." The spider used the elf's name as he did not often do. "It will go down in the stories of Nerub'Itjahz for generations to come."

The crowd around Ranilok let loose a thunderous cheer for him and for their own victory, lifting the elf above them and carrying him out of the room. Azjol-Seraq belonged to Nerub once again and the spiders intended to keep it that way forever. Ranilok hardly understood why the spiders would lift him high and act this way over what he had done, but he cheered with them to celebrate their victory, his victory, and his triumph over the temptations of power.


	8. Redemption

**Chapter 8: Redemption**

"We're not in Quel'thalas anymore, are we?" Lily asked Xainia as they sat in a group of bushes much like the one in which they had first met.

"Nah, we be in terrahkah forest." Xainia pulled her head back from the section of bushes that she had been looking through.

"Terrokar? Where's that, I've never even heard of it in stories." Lily was dismayed.

"It be in Outland. Dis place we be at be called Firewing Point. Even dah de blood elves be membas of da Horde, dese blood elves be tryin tah kill us." Xainia elaborated on their location.

"They would do that?" Lily almost exclaimed as she often did when something surprised her. Quieting down, the elf continued. "I've heard of Outland before, people in the city talk of it like a paradise. It doesn't look like it from what I see around me."

Continuing about the Firewing blood elves, Xainia looked through the bushes again. "Dese blood elves even kill otha blood elves dat dey dun know."

Looking at the ground in disgust, Lily realized how misguided she had been in even being a servant to elves like the ones in Firewing Point. "I really don't know my own people. First they trap M'uru, then Cin'donia, and now you say they'd even attack their own kin?"

"Dah world be ah strange place, Lily." Xainia replied using the elf's name; Lily had introduced herself earlier on.

The pair had fallen out of the portal as it closed up and quickly hidden themselves in some bushes near the outskirts of Firewing Point. Unfortunately for them, Cin'donia had been whisked off to somewhere in the town before they had come through. The bad timing was also a blessing, however, because they were not caught by the guards upon exiting the portal.

Still contemplating her new companion, Lily questioned Xainia. "So why did you help me? We don't even know each other. You look like a powerful priestess, why waste time on me?"

"Ah wasn't alwahs powahful. Ah help yah because yah need help like ah once did. If ah was onlah concerned fah mahself den ah'd be a blood elf ah sometin." Xainia forgot her company, remembering as she pulled back into the space in the bushes that they hid in. "Ah… sorrah."

"Does everyone really think that about us?" Lily asked innocently, though she was fairly certain of what the answer was.

"Well ah kin nah be speakin fah everabodah, but ah know dat dere be ah lot dat tink it." Xainia tried to be as nice about the truth as she could.

"I can see what my friend meant now." Lily regretted as she looked out of the bushes herself and saw packs of hungry looking wolves stalking the forest. "These animals look hungry. I shouldn't have come out here… I'm going to be eaten."

"Ah protect ya. Ah said befa dat dis friend ah yahs must be worth savin if she tried tah free dat naaru. Yah be worth helpin since yah wanted tah help 'er too. When yah get back, dun let fear keep ya from bein what ya want ta be." The priestess tried to be encouraging towards her friend.

"I'll try." Lily smiled as they both continued to scan around the town from the bushes to try and find Cin'donia.

--------------

After being carried back to the base encampment outside of Azjol-Seraq, Ranilok was allowed into the portal back to Nerub'Itjahz very quickly. The decision was made by Anub'Jegavith to destroy the tunnels back to Nerub'Itjahz and use portals only to transport from colony to colony. The safety of the main colony was of greatest importance to the nerubians. Once Ranilok had arrived, he was met by Neru'Rekan.

Coming to one knee, Ranilok greeted the spider. "We have won, master."

"I have heard. Walk with me, Ranilok." Neru'Rekan now also used the elf's name.

Rising and following, the elf wondered what had happened to cause this change. He had killed a lich, but his part in the battle was just as significant as the army of Nerub'Itjahz. In terms of sheer destruction, they had killed many more than he. The pair slowly processed across one of the large galleries in Nerub'Itjahz, towards Neru'Rekan's personal quarters.

"I know that you wish to return to your world and to that woman, Ranilok. Anub'Jegavith is also understanding of this and doesn't require your presence at the feast." The warlock explained.

"Yes, master." Ranilok was glad that he had finished the ordeal and could try to save the one he loved.

Laying forth his demands, Neru'Rekan questioned Ranilok. "I will know something for our lord before you leave. What did you do in that cavern against the lich?"

"I don't know exactly how it happened." The elf paused to gather his thoughts and continued to walk. "The lich found a way to manipulate the crystals as your people did. He collapsed the construct around me so much that it began to crush me." Ranilok stopped again for a moment. "It did crush me. I felt it crush me, but I didn't die. I was thinking of everything that I'd done and how I had pledged myself to Nerub. I wanted to see the scourge defeated and more than anything, I wanted to see Cin'donia again. Everything was silent for a moment and then when I re-opened my eyes, I was surrounded by this great firey cloud. I felt the power of the construct flowing through me."

"The desire to overcome that humanoids have is the only trait that the spider kingdom finds worthy of emulating. Your desire appears to have saved you in this battle. Now, the general described this cloud to me. Tell me of the rest; I was told you created the construct from your body." Neru'Rekan pushed the elf on.

"When I created Cin'donia, I converted several crystals into energy to make her body turn from stone to something more lifelike. I can only guess that I somehow reached out and turned the construct into pure magic. I felt so much energy that I could have destroyed the Lich King himself, but I didn't do it. I turned away from the power and when I suppressed it my body had been healed by it." Ranilok kept the story going.

Pushing him on, Neru'Rekan tried to get the elf back on topic. "That is an interesting use of the crystals, but it hardly answers my question. You are the one who wishes to leave, so expedite your answer."

Trying to finish the story for his master, Ranilok hurried his speech along. "The power was still in me, and I knew I could do anything with it, including relinquish it. I gave the power up and when I did, it left me and returned to being the crystals that I had drawn it from. If I would have used it, I would have become worse than I had ever been."

"Power has dark legacies, which is why we must use only use great amounts on key occasions and why we must keep a strict order in its use. Nerub teaches us that although the use of power is warranted, the true enemies of darkness, light, or of any force can only be destroyed by the simplest group of fighters. Monsters can never destroy monsters. If a monster does destroy another, they inherit the foe's power and everything that was unordered and chaotic about their foe." The warlock began to make a lecture out of the lesson that Ranilok had learned.

"So what becomes of me now? Should I return once I save Cin'donia and continue the fight? I am sure she would be willing to help destroy the undead, even though she is of the light. Methuselah didn't have a problem living among you when he wielded the light." The elf tried to discuss the future with Neru'Rekan.

"No." Neru'Rekan opened the door to his chambers and led Ranilok in. "You will return to your home and you will find your own way by the will of Nerub. If we were to keep you here for eternity and use you as our tool until the Lich King's destruction, then we would be greedier for power and victory than you had ever been. You have learned greatly from Nerub, going from greed to willing relinquishment of nearly unlimited power. For this, your story and your name will be remembered by Nerub'Itjahz for generations. Your debt to our kingdom is repaid in full, along with this." The spider took a scroll from his robes and handed it to Ranilok. The scroll was a simple one that bore a wax seal with the letters 'MD' imposed over each other.

"What is this?" Ranilok held the scroll, knowing that he had seen the seal before somewhere.

"It is something that I will never understand, but that I am bound to follow. Just as I will never comprehend why you feel that you must race back to save this woman, I do not know why this intercession was made on your behalf. We would have been satiated by your death, but an individual that is respected by us contacted us. He gave us several scrolls that had been lost to the scourge and recovered by these 'free willed' undead that supposedly walk your homelands. You must ask yourself, how could we have known that you would open Cin'donia's prison? Why would I care about her enough to be waiting at the portal to find you on the other side?" The spider crossed his chamber to a small amulet that he had prepared. "Your 'friend', as you call him, had enough of something he called 'faith' in you to convince me to let you earn our kingdom's respect. Though I never thought that you would do it, you have earned the respect of the spider kingdom and my respect, Ranilok."

Opening the scroll, Ranilok read it to himself. The scroll contained a signed pact with Neru'Rekan and a letter below it addressed to Ranilok. Rolling up the scroll again, Ranilok nodded, moved by the contents. "Thank you, Methuselah… thank you."

Handing the amulet that he had prepared to Ranilok, Neru'Rekan continued. "There is that phrase again, 'thank you'. You may go and express that elsewhere as much as you wish, because it has no meaning here. This amulet is yours for your merits. The crystal set in it contains enough power for one being, all the power that you should ever need in your limited lifetime. Since Methuselah has cured himself of undeath, either of you are welcome in this kingdom as you wish. This amulet and the one I have given him will guide you to us, but it will only work for the master of the amulet."

"I understand, master." Ranilok took a knee before the spider again.

"That is enough of that, elf. Rise as a hero of this kingdom and call me master no longer." The spider corrected the elf as he opened a portal back to Ranilok's home.

Rising and walking towards the portal, Ranilok felt such appreciation for what his friend and Neru'Rekan had done that he could not find words for it. "By Nerub, I will find you, Cin'donia." Ranilok committed himself as he looked back to the spider-warlock. "Goodbye, Neru'Rekan."

"May the law of the spider kingdom and the will of Nerub usher you to an eternity of order in the darkness." Neru'Rekan issued one of the ancient farewells of his people as Ranilok left Nerub'Itjahz to save the one that he loved.

--------------

"Irideus, come away from the window." Arisia called to her son from the couch that she was lying sideways on as the young boy looked out at something.

Running back to his mother, the young boy sat down by her and began curling her hair around his fingers shortly thereafter. "I'm sorry mummy." He paused. "Mummy, why don't we go outside much?"

"Because we'd cause too much trouble. You'd need to learn the eye trick first… and you'd need to be able to control your power." The young elf's mom explained to him as the put down the book that she had been reading

"But I can control it… I can!" The boy complained before continuing. "What's the eye trick, mummy?" Irideus asked, wondering if his mother meant that game 'peek-a-boo' that she had played with him when he was much younger.

"Our eyes are blue, but all of the other elves around here have green eyes. It's just a little magic trick that makes ours look green enough to fool them, but you're not old enough to be getting into magic like that." Arisia continued to lecture her son.

As the two sat on the couch and Arisia read some of her book to her son, someone knocked on the door. It wasn't a frantic knock or a heavy knock, just a simple request for entry. Mithelidan was sitting in a chair by the table, reading a new set of scrolls as the knock came. The warlock rose and went to answer the door, shifting his eyes to green as he did.

Casting an Eye of Kilrogg, the warlock guided it outside of the house and looked around with it. The figure outside the door noticed the eye and looked back down at it just as Mithelidan stopped casting it. "Go away." The elf called to the visitor.

"No. I need to talk to you." The visitor called back plainly from outside.

"I'm not interested. You've done quite enough already." Mithelidan stepped away from the door.

Rising from the couch, Arisia walked over to her husband and took a hold of his arm. "That sounds like Ranilok. Do you think that…" the woman trailed off.

"Doubtful, he'll go away if we ignore him for long enough." Mithelidan turned back towards the front of the house to see Ranilok climbing through the window. Startled, the warlock kept his eyes fixed on the intruder. "I tell you to go away and you climb in my window? Are you that desperate to steal more of my scrolls? I'm surprised that you survived the first set!" he spoke disdainfully.

Wordlessly, Ranilok dusted himself off and walked towards Mithelidan as Arisia held Irideus tightly and stayed on the couch. Irideus glared at Ranilok, remembering what he had done before, and the fire mage felt his powers stripped away from him like ragged clothing as he approached the boy's father. Ranilok put one of his hands into his robe as if he was about to pull out something and throw it at Mithelidan. As the warlock raised his own hand to guard against any incoming strike, Ranilok pulled three scrolls out of his robe pocket and held them out for Mithelidan.

"Go on, take them." Ranilok said as he kept holding them out for his old friend.

Squinting for a moment to discern if there was a curse on the scrolls, Mithelidan took them from the fire mage and placed them on the table, picking the scroll with his own seal back up. "Where did you get this?"

"Neru'Rekan gave it to me. You know what is on it." Ranilok said as he waited patiently, Arisia could see that the elf's eyes were blue, but she kept quiet.

"How did you get this?" Mithelidan looked at the scroll, easily remembering it.

Ranilok set his eyes on the amulet of Nerub'Itjahz that Mithelidan wore; it was nearly identical to his own. Realizing the challenge ahead of him, Ranilok tried to think of a way to prove that he didn't steal the scroll from the spiders. The elf knew he couldn't prove that he had changed his ways to either of them in a convincing way. His thievery and corruption had been so deep that he couldn't ask anyone to believe that he had undergone an honest change.

Turning towards the door partially, the elf decided that perhaps he wouldn't be able to win back his old friends. In the least, he had returned the scrolls that he had stolen. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you means nothing in Nerub'Itjahz. Your letter was moving. I would have thought you foolish to care about a wretch who had wronged you before, but now I know that you really care. Despite the horrible things I did towards both you and Arisia, you still did me a kindness. I have no means to repay you aside from my words; you have no battles that I can fight for you. I'll go, sorry for breaking in so rashly." Ranilok paused before he left, remembering what Neru'Rekan had said as he left the spider kingdom. "May the law of the spider kingdom and the will of Nerub usher you to an eternity of order in the darkness."

As Ranilok moved for the door, Mithelidan caught his arm and stopped him. "Neru'Rekan would never have said such words to you unless you earned this scroll honestly." The warlock noticed the amulet that Ranilok wore; Ranilok had forgotten that he could have used it as proof. "Nor would he have given you that."

Turning back, Ranilok smiled slightly, embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess I could have mentioned it."

"I didn't expect to see this pact return to me so quickly." Mithelidan placed the scroll on the table, leaving its full contents unspoken. "What would you like to know?"

"I don't really need to know anything. My life is better… so I can't question your motives. I just wanted to come here to show you that I'd earned it. Would I be too rash to call you my friends again?" Ranilok still acted conservatively, wanting to move on and go to find Cin'donia as soon as he could.

"Of course not. We both made this pact so that we could see our friend again, the one we lost when we found the heart in Northrend." Arisia spoke up as Irideus let Ranilok have his powers back. "So what became of the woman?" The woman asked, hoping that Ranilok had learned from that too and that he no longer desired her in such an envious way.

"Cin'donia's alive… but she's captured by the blood elves." Ranilok forgot how out of pace his friends were. "She was captured in Silvermoon when we tried to free M'uru from the Blood Knights. I'm going to go find her and get her out."

"Cin'donia?" Mithelidan questioned the name as Arisia also looked at him confusedly.

Ranilok quickly realized how little Mithelidan and Arisa knew about his recent life. Calling them to the table, he apologized for cutting short any formalities and explained. The pair was quite surprised to learn that not only had he succeeded in his work, but that the love he had found was with a naaru. Mithelidan was familiar with the Naaru like A'dal and he had always considered them capable of all encompassing care, but never 'love' in the way that elves and men felt it. Arisia was touched by the story, especially by the news that Ranilok had found someone. Quickly moving on to the dire part of it, Ranilok told them of the escape attempt and how Cin'donia was captured.

"We were fighting against practically an army of guards. If there was an army of guards around her then, I can't imagine what kind of guard she is under if they've found out anything about her true nature." Ranilok explained.

"How can we help?" The warlock questioned while offering aid. "You don't even know where they took her." Mithelidan leveled with his friend on the situation.

Revealing the failsafe that he had thought up, Ranilok continued. "That's not quite accurate. There was a delivery girl that Nia made friends with. The girl wanted to help and so I gave her a sort of arcane beacon. I can only hope that she was able to follow Cin'donia closely enough. I'm going to go to it and I don't know where it leads. It's a chance I am going to take for her, so I can't ask you to take it too."

"Say no more, we'll go." Mithelidan looked to Arisia for agreement and received a nod. "You've gained the respect of the spider kingdom and proven yourself. I'll not back down from going into battle alongside you."

"Ae'll go tae." A voice came from the stairwell in the house as a small figure walked down the stairs and looked over to Ranilok. "Ae been lisinen in on all ae dis. Sae would ye accept me as ye friend again?"

"Gevran." Ranilok stood up and crossed to the stairs, nearly lifting the dwarf up and spinning him around. The elf was truly surprised that Gevran was still staying in Quel'thalas. "I was a fool to ever turn away your friendship. Your help would be as invaluable as your allegiance."

The addition of Gevran somehow made the moment a truly emotional one. Nearly the whole group that had originally ventured to Northrend and found Nerub'Itjahz was there. In this little house, nearly a decade after they had first met and set out across the icy continent, they would go to battle once more together.

In truth, Gevran had been there since the last time that Ranilok had visited. The dwarf was unable to find a safe route of passage back to Aerie Peak and no one in the house had a spell that could send him to a place aligned with the alliance. The dwarf had stayed out of sight while Ranilok spurned the rest of his friends in his greed. It was fortunate for Ranilok that he could find all of his old friends again, rather than just the ones that should have been there.

"Aye. Ye woke me up with all ae this storytelling down 'ere. Was ye about tae leave me? With yon human-undead-elf here bein' ae warlock whae was going tae keep ye alive?" Gevran poked fun at Mithelidan.

Looking to Gevran, Arisia was slightly worried. "Gevran… I wanted you to stay here with Irideus."

"Bring him with ye. Thae boy needs tae get out ae thae house 'ere." The dwarf continued in his thick accent.

"Will he be safe?" Arisia looked to Mithelidan.

"We'll both be there. Let's go, we're wasting time." Mithelidan grabbed an enormous sword crafted from purplish metal along with a few other items from around the house. "Open the portal, Ranilok."

"Alright… here we go." The elf took out a blue orb from his pocket and held it up near his face, poking it. From the orb, a mana wyrmling woke up and stretched out. The small blue wyrmling looked at Ranilok happily and butted up against the elf's forehead.

"Ranilok… how is a baby mana wyrmling going to get us to your arcane beacon?" Arisia looked at her friend quizzically.

"Just wait a moment. I guess that these little things prove what we've proven in a much simpler fashion: nothing can keep friends and family apart." Ranilok held the wyrmling up to his face. "Go find your sister." The elf told the wyrmling.

Making a delighted squealing noise, the wyrmling hopped a few times on the palm of Ranilok's hand and then dived off, dropping headfirst for the ground. Arisia moved to catch it, but Ranilok held out an arm to keep her back. As the wyrmling hit the floor of the house, a gaping hole in reality opened up around it, causing a slight pull on everyone standing nearby.

"Quickly, before it closes." Ranilok made ready to jump. "See you on the other side."

With their old group reunited along with a young addition, the friends entered the hole to help Ranilok save Cin'donia. Such an action would have hardly been believable for them only minutes before, but Ranilok had overcome his challenges already. The group cared for him enough to believe that there was a being underneath the greed that they had seen. Helping a friend that was exalted in the stories of the nerubians and loved by even a naaru was truly better than dealing with a greedy and jealous elf that snuffed arcane powder. Just as his friends had returned to him, Ranilok no longer loathed coming to see Mithelidan nor coveted the woman that was never his. Each of them would play their part in the battle to come, and they would do it together.


	9. Rescue

**Chapter 9: Rescue**

Firewing point was one of the largest colonies of blood elves in the southern half of Outland. Despite its size and prominence, it was not affiliated with the horde in the least. Kael'thas' followers hated every race that was not blood elf. The crooked and corrupt beings even hated elves that were not as loyal to their maddened leader as they were. Prince Kael'thas truly embodied the Lich King's taunts towards Ranilok; the prince had recently been offered a more stable source of power than Illidan could offer him and had switched his allegiances to the one who would grant him more power.

From the colony at Firewing point, Kael'thas funneled initiates towards his stolen stronghold at Tempest Keep. Cin'donia was held at Firewing point for future transport to Tempest Keep as a prisoner. In the interim, she was being held in an area that was quite out of reach to Xainia and Lily. Each blood elf colony in outland always seemed to have at least one spire. The spire in the city was the tallest structure and was where the leader of the area often looked down upon his or her people from. Looking down upon each other was something blood elves did often. In addition to having high observation points, the towers often had floating shelters that hovered magically in the air around the tops of the towers. Some of the structures were reachable by teleportation devices while others could only be accessed by those who knew the spell to reach them.

"So your name is Cin'donia. The guards were able to at least gather something useful. " An inquisitor that stood near Cin'donia laughed. "Mindless scum. So weak compared to any of the magister caste."

The naaru-elf was being held on one of the floating platforms that hovered near the pinnacle of the tower. A prison much like the ones that the Kirin'tor used to contain magical prisoners was constructed around her while she was chained to the platform floor inside of it. Magical prisons like hers would allow no spells to pass in or out of the prison walls.

"You may have been powerful enough to ward off a few guards and try to steal M'uru from us, but in that cage you're nothing but a high elf with strange eyes. I detest you high elf scum. You're too blind by the old ways to realize what glorious powers await when we use all of the sources available to us. In there you'll probably become a wretched… unless you embrace our magic." The inquisitor tried to use typical techniques against Cin'donia.

Cin'donia felt horrible at being trapped again, but she would not let this evil and corrupt elf interrogate her without resistance. Though she was willing to give him a few words, the woman would not let him know anything important. She knew that this elf would be impossible to teach, unlike Ranilok, but she committed herself to saying only lessons.

"You can't have something stolen from you that isn't yours to begin with. M'uru is a being, not some possession." Cin'donia called out as she cast a spell in the prison.

The elf caused the crystals on her wrists and forehead to flash brightly as they did in Silvermoon. Though the elf outside could not be effected by the time lapse due to the prison, he could be temporarily blinded by the flash of light that accompanied the spell.

Grabbing his eyes, the elf leaned over and cursed under his breath. "Funny, huh? I'll make you pay for that when you get sent to Tempest Keep." The inquisitor regained his vision slightly, but it was very blotchy. "M'uru is ours. He's not a blood elf, so he's not even worthy of living by our standards. The blood elf is the ultimate form of life, able to harness any energy to become more powerful. Nothing will stop us from taking all of Outland as our own and draining every bit of energy from it."

"And what happens when you've drained this planet of all it has? Where will you go? What will slake your lust?" Cin'donia cast her spell again, blinding the inquisitor further.

"Stop that!" The elf staggered around. "You're only making things worse for yourself. I'll make sure that you'll never have contact with another soul in your life once we're finished with you. You'll be deprived of all power until you go completely mad from it."

Entertained by the tactics that this inquisitor used, Cin'donia spoke again, flashing her light as before. This time, the elf blocked his eyes, but she still spoke. "I don't need power or want power. I'm not like you at all. Everything that you think you could torture me with, I've endured to a harsher degree than you can imagine."

"Haha… then if you're not like us we'll just have to dissect you to find out what makes you different. How would you feel about having your body torn apart slowly while you have to sit awake and watch it?" The inquisitor blocked his eyes again in preparation for Nia's response.

Speaking matter-of-factly, Nia diffused the elf's latest threat. "I've endured worse. This isn't my first body, after all."

"Liar! You're just trying to seem strong. After we break you down we'll…" The elf had taken his hand away from his face to point at her as he called her a liar; a grave mistake on his part.

Before the inquisitor could finish his phrase, Cin'donia began to cast her time lapse spell repeatedly, flashing the elf to blindness and pain numerous times. Although the platforms in the sky were magically suspended, they were not protected along the sides. As the inquisitor staggered around cursing from the repeated flashes, he took a bad step and fell off of the platform, plummeting to the ground several hundred feet below. The inquisitor's life ended with a sickening thud as Cin'donia prayed that he might find some peace in whatever awaited him next.

"Hurry, Ranilok." Nia thought to herself. "They won't lose someone else like that again… they'll take me soon."

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"Did you just see that?" Lily pulled back into the ring of bushes that her and Xainia were hiding in.

"Nah. If ah'd seen it ah'd be askin dat tah yah." The troll continued in her thick dialect, sometimes confusing Lily.

"Someone just fell off of one of those platforms by the spire." The elf put a hand to the side of her face, distraught at the thought of that happening to either of them.

"Tah bad fah him. Teach 'im tah play 'round on tall tings." Xainia held no pity for the elf that had plummeted to the ground.

"That's not very… eeeeep!" Lily fell backwards and shrieked.

Not looking back at her, Xainia held out a hand while she continued to look around the town for a sign of a buildup of guards or some sort of struggle. "Yah be quiet! Yah tryin' tah call da guards ah sometin?"

As Xainia finally looked over towards her companion, she wasn't sure whether to be entertained or shocked. Lily was lying on her back and squirming as something was wiggling around in the bodice of her dress. Nearly fainting, Lily watched as a pink colored baby mana wyrmling wiggled its way out of the top of her dress. The wyrmling floated in front of the elf's face and butted up against her forehead playfully.

"Oh my…" Lily looked faint again, wanting to scream but holding it back as to not scare the little animal.

"Why was ya hidin dat down dere?" Xainia sat down on the ground and laughed at the elf's reaction to the tiny being.

"I didn't put it there!" Lily protested and then felt around her dress. "Oh no! The arcane beacon is gone!" The elf added the two together quickly. "This thing is the arcane beacon?! What did Ranilok give me?"

"Did yah jus say Ranilok?" Xainia looked over suspiciously as the mana wyrmling flew to her and began to circle around one of her hands.

Standing up and dusting herself off, Lilt looked at Xainia indignantly. "Yes, but what does it matter? I just had a baby mana wyrm fly out of my dress! It's indecent! Doesn't it matter how I feel? I'm distraught!"

Xainia remained seated and kept laughing at the situation before replying. "Yah bettah be keep in yah voice down. If dat was traumatic enough fah yah tah be yellin like dis ah tink yah might deafen dah enemies if yah sah some real horrahs."

"Hmph!" Lily sat back down and simmered at the remark. She knew she wasn't cut out of this kind of life. "What does it want to do aside from startling me like that?"

"Ah dunno. Yah said dat dah friend who asked yah tah watch ova dis Cin'donia was named Ranilok? Wah he an elf tah?" Xainia tried to investigate the situation more.

"Yes… why? Do you know him?" Lily was surprised that the world would be so small to have her bump into a random troll that knew Ranilok.

"Ah heard ah him. Ah heard dat he done some prettah nasty stuff in dah past. He alsa was dere when sometin reallah big happened in mah life." Xainia explained her knowledge of the elf more.

Lily knew that it must be the same elf because Cin'donia had found time to tell her about Ranilok's sordid past when Lily and Nia had traveled to Silvermoon together. "It must be the one you know. He's different now… I think. He seems more honest and giving."

"Ah believe dat when ah see it." Xainia stood up to look out of the bushes again.

Suddenly as the priestess rose, the wyrmling flew up into the air near the top of the bushes and began to circle furiously, making rapid squeaking noises. Both Lily and Xainia were blown back against one side of the bushes as the hole in reality opened near the top of the bushes and the blue wyrmling flew out towards the pink one. The travelers fell out of the hole behind the wyrmling and landed in a heap as the small creature chased around the pink wyrmling playfully. While the two little serpent-like creatures flew around in the bushes and tired each other out while squeaking and making other noises quickly, the two groups picked themselves up and separated, each trying to see if there was a threat from the other. Xainia instinctively adopted a ready stance with her black staff Anathema while casting shielding spells on both herself and Lily.

Not paying attention to the others, Lily looked to Ranilok first. "Ranilok…" She started calmly and then quickly sounded indignant. "You could have told me what that thing was!"

"Why did it matter?" Ranilok bent down and picked up the now-tired wyrmlings that had gone back to being balls of their respective colors.

"Because I…. I…" Lily stammered as Ranilok placed the balls into his robe pocket.

"She try tah hide it in ha dress tah be cleva and she pay fah it." Xainia spoke up to Ranilok, recognizing him vaguely from a ceremony that they had both participated in long before this moment.

Ignoring the jab, Lily quickly accepted the explanation. "Yes… that!" she sounded distraught.

"My apologies, I didn't have time to tell you what it was. Where's Cin'donia?" Ranilok tried to move the conversation on, not paying attention to the fact that some of the group members were still wary of each other.

Turning to look at the rest of the group, Xainia resumed her defensive stance quickly. "Wha dis dwarf be doin here?" the troll had once worn the rank of Lieutenant General for the horde and was not trusting of many members of the alliance unless they had shown themselves to be above petty alliances.

"He's ok, Xainia, he's a friend." Mithelidan spoke up with authority towards the troll. "It's fortunate that you are here too. I don't know how you managed it, but your shadows will be useful in whatever battles we have ahead."

Confused as to why this random elf would know her name or that she had been a shadow priest, Xainia turned her sights away from the dwarf and towards the voice that had just spoken to her. "Do ah know yah?"

"That's Xainia?" Arisia spoke up in a bit of wonderment. "I never thought I'd actually meet you."

Interrupting the conversation, Lily spoke out adamantly. "Why does everyone know everyone except me!"

Every face in the group turned to her at that comment and stared for a moment. Ranilok went to her and pulled her off to the side slowly. "Just some… re-acquaintances. You'll get up to speed sometime, just leave them alone."

"How yah even know me, elf? Yah all got some funnah thoughts 'bout me. Ah dun have shadah nah more." The troll corrected the two elves. "What yah name be, ladah?"

"My name's Arisia." The woman turned to her husband. "Mith, are you sure that there's only one troll that's named Xainia?"

"Arisia…" Xainia muttered; the name slightly familiar to her.

"Sometimes, minds need to see each other, rather than bodies. Unlike her, you've known me in all three of the ways I've appeared in this existence, so you could recognize me in any shape or form." Mithelidan approached Xainia. "Close your eyes, child."

Slightly miffed that the elf would use that term with her, Xainia grudgingly obeyed as the elf placed his hand on her shoulder. In the darkness of her mind, Xainia analyzed how the hand felt, the weight and way that it was held on her shoulder. A bit of the color drained from her face as she realized that she remembered this touch. Without opening her eyes, she felt a sudden connection to the being that stood in front of her. Pointing her head towards the hand with closed eyes, she noticed that it looked withered and claw-like in her mind. The troll followed the arm towards the body and instead of an elf standing before her, she saw a shorter undead with worm-eaten cheeks and green hair. The sight matched that of her former master, Maldelic.

Xainia's eyes snapped open and she jumped backwards from the grip and shivered a bit. "Masta? Dat be yah masta? Yah nah look dah same at all."

"I thought we agreed that you weren't going to call me that anymore." Mithelidan answered her question indirectly. "You have no master now."

"It is yah!" Xainia couldn't resist running up and hugging the elf, something she would never have let herself do when he was an undead. The tense feelings between the groups immediately dissipated as they joined up fully. Looking around to the rest of the group Xainia quickly brought herself up to speed. "Dis be everahbodah from dat storah yah told me by dah world tree." The priestess looked down at the dwarf. "Ah sorrah if ah offended yah. Yah mus be Gevran."

"Well ae am glad that ye nae longer want tae see me on thae end of ae pike." Gevran nodded, recognizing that Xainia was a powerful priest as he was.

"An yah be Arisia." The troll walked up to her master's loved one and hugged her also. Xainia was completely delighted that Maldelic had found his family and somehow cured his undeath. "Who dis be?" she looked down at the small elf boy that had been behind Arisia.

Irideus was partially hiding behind Arisia's leg and curling up in the side of her dress. The boy had never seen a troll before and was both scared and excited at the same time. Although he normally wouldn't be so withdrawn, the presence of so many people combined with the new location they were in had him clinging to his mother. "My name's Irideus."

"He's my son, Xainia. You also need to know that I go by the name of Mithelidan now." Mithelidan finished explaining the situation.

"Ah'k. Yah sure he sha be out 'ere? Dis place be dangerous enough fah Lily, nah tah mention 'im." Xainia looked concerned.

"With both of us here, it's safer than leaving him alone at home." Arisia chimed in, starting to look around at the surroundings.

"What about Cin'donia?" Lily chimed in again, drawing everyone's stare about Ranilok. Slightly awkward at this attention, she continued. "I know it's nice and all that you know each other and are realizing all this, but I promised that I'd try to save Cin'donia and we're just standing here."

"She's right." Ranilok stopped anyone else from speaking to Lily about interrupting. "If they were in some bushes we must be somewhere hostile. We can't make this much noise." The mage turned to Lily again. "Where are we?"

"Firewing point. We haven't found Cin'donia, but they took her through a portal to here." Lily got everyone up to speed.

Looking out of the bushes, Xainia gasped and suddenly pulled back from them. The troll spoke quietly, holding her hands out for everyone to be silent. "We been makin tah much noise. Dere be lotsa guards comin dis way."

Issuing an Eye of Kilrogg from the bush, Mithelidan quickly confirmed that at least a platoon of guards was headed to patrol the border of the settlement. Ranilok started looking through his bags to try and find something that he could use against them. It was so much easier to fight when he had an army at his back and a construct around him that he could change the form of.

"I don't have anything that can take out that many of them! I don't know how I'm going to do this!" Ranilok slumped down after speaking quietly but with urgency.

Saying nearly the same thing as the general, Neru'Delgan, Mithelidan reminded Ranilok of everyone else. "That's why we're here. If you could win on your own, you wouldn't need us to help you."

Realizing that he was almost making the folly that he had in Azjol-Seraq of underestimating his friends, Ranilok smiled at the fact that he truly had friends again. "Ok, how are we going to do this?"

"Well there's always just a direct attack." Mithelidan suggested. "It's not like we haven't taken greater numbers of undead than this before… or the tuskaar."

"Yah, but dese ah blood elves. Dey been getting intah magic dat nah one else been up against." Xainia reminded her former master quietly.

"Mummy look!" Irideus called out to his mother excitedly.

Moments later after a deal of debating and emotion, Irideus slowly walked out of the bushes towards the platoon of guards that was coming around the perimeter of Firewing Point. The entire platoon stopped at the sight of what appeared to be a young blood elf boy. His eyes were green and he looked lost in at the edge of the town. Quickly closing in, the leader of the group approached him while someone on the far side called more guards in along with one of the town priestesses.

"Who's child is this? Our children should be growing in Quel'thalas and then coming out here." The guard captain remarked as some of the guards leaned down to look at the boy.

"The good word of Kael'thas' wisdom has been spreading. Perhaps it has spread so far that even the children wish to come now." The priestess smiled at the boy. "Where's your mommy?" Feigning tears, Irideus simply cried in front of them. The priestess quickly assumed that his mother had brought him here and died getting from one of the lesser horde-allied colonies to Firewing Point. "We can take him in and see if he has a use. It is obvious that his family is loyal to Kael'thas if they tried to come this far with him."

"Hello." Ranilok stepped out of the bushes towards the group of guards. "I believe you have something that you shouldn't."

The large group quickly turned and looked at the elf, noticing that his eyes were blue. The guard captain was the first to speak. "Is this boy yours? Why is he a blood elf and you are a high elf?"

"No, he's not mine. Tell me where they took the woman that was captured in Silvermoon." Ranilok demanded from the group.

"Or else what, throwback?" The captain referenced the fact that Ranilok appeared to be a high elf.

"Hey… That's the man that was helping the woman we captured." One of the other guards who had run over to the group spoke up.

Immediately drawing his weapons, the guard captain gave orders. "Take him!"

The scene that unfolded next was terrifying for the targets of the attack. The blood elves in the guard group all tried to cast spells to drain Ranilok, but even though they spoke the words, nothing happened. Before they had fully realized what was going on, Ranilok was busy launching fire into their midst, aiming high as to avoid Irideus. As soon as the attack began, the rest of the fighters in the group came out of the bushes and began to attack the elves as well. Quickly allowing himself to be moved, Irideus appeared back in the bushes where his father had left an unfinished summoning spell for him. Lily kept the boy safe in the bushes along with her while everyone else took down the guards. As the guards had left their spells behind thinking them useless, the battle was now easy for Ranilok and his friends.

"Ae got em, missy." Gevran called to Xainia. "Whae dun ye see if ye can do some damage tae em."

The ruckus on the side of town had called the attention of many of the other elves in the settlement. The guards now rushed towards the fray to try and stop this group of high elves from infiltrating Firewing point. The new guards wouldn't be fooled by not having their spells for a moment.

"We could have used the shadow here, Xainia." Mithelidan spoke candidly as he continued to curse the enemies and throw shadow bolts into their ranks. "I thought you'd overcome it? Why did you leave it behind?"

"This hardla be dah time tah talk about it!" Xainia called down holy fire upon several of the charging guards. "It left me… ah din leave it. Dah nothin' ah can do about it." The troll paused, suddenly feeling all of the other guards rushing in, their demonic magics and corruption nearing her friends. "Dah darkness be wit dese foul 'uns. Spirit ah redemption be wit me!"

Xainia's eyes flashed from red to golden as all of the color in her skin suddenly drained away. The troll's hair broke free from the small binding that kept it held up and was suddenly long enough to touch the ground. Gevran was completely amazed at what his fellow priest was doing as the entire group felt holy energy radiate off of the solid white troll. A luminescence came to Xainia's skin as she jumped forwards and plowed through the remaining guards from the original group, headed for the newly arriving troops. The elves that she came towards became quickly scared of her as the demonic magic within them recoiled at the presence of so much light.

"Dah shadah's powah tah ovacome da light not be unmatched when da light try ta ovacome da shadah." Xainia called back as she tore through the oncoming guards, rending them by simply passing her hands through them.

The group finished off the last of the close guards and watched in amazement as Xainia continued to tear through the additional blood elves. Her hair was wrapping around the enemies and tossing them high into the air while a hailstorm of holy light rained down upon the entire group. The troll jumped from body to body, weapons meaningless when she was in this form. Though this show of power would not be nearly enough to fight the settlement off, it was enough to scare the advance to a halt. The blood elves in the settlement stopped coming as they saw the carnage and pulled back to set up a barricade. As Xainia finished off the last of the guards, she flipped behind a building and her form returned to normal, even restoring the binding on her hair.

Mithelidan left the rest of the group to the building that she was behind and laughed as Xainia breathed heavily after expending so much energy. "Well that was sudden… You're a better paladin than I ever was." He commented.

"Ey!" Xainia gasped for some air. "Dun be callin me one ah dem. Ah still be ah priest. Dat onla happen when da shadah and da demons be around."

"Ok, ok." The warlock took stock of the situation. "This is about to get very heavy."

"Hold on, listen!" Ranilok silenced the group as they heard a voice on the wind.

"Ranilok! Up here! I'm up here!" Cin'donia called out from the platform that Lily had seen the blood elf guard fall from, able to both see and feel the battle below.

As Gevran and Xainia safely saw that Lily and Irideus made it to the building that they were all hiding behind, the captain of the guards behind the barricade quickly mustered the defenses. The elves had also heard Cin'donia yell from her prison high above the ground.

"They must be here to free the prisoner from Silvermoon! Quickly, send the magisters to the platform and take her to Tempest Keep!" The captain motioned towards several of his lieutenants who promptly ran into the town to fetch the magisters.

Almost frantically, Ranilok looked for an opportunity to get around the barricade. The elf had to continuously dodge behind the building that the group was at to avoid spells and arrows. Ranilok noticed the group of magisters run into the tower under guard as from the spot that they were hiding.

"They're going to move her! We have to get to the tower!" He called out.

"Dah be getting us killed. Even ah know when dere be too manah ah dem. De entire town be afta us." Xainia had peered into the mind of one of the guards and seen all of the blood elves that stood behind the barricade.

"But we must! I can't just let her be taken away! She's done so much for me… meant so much to me!" Ranilok sorrowed at the thought of being helpless to save the one he loved. "Is there really nothing we can do to save her?"

"There's always something we can do." Mithelidan pulled a set of black studded leather reigns out of his bags. "Come, Obsidia!" The warlock called out.

Responding to the call of its master, a black netherdrake flew down from the mountains nearby and phased into the reigns that Mithelidan was holding. The drake was surprised at the appearance of her master, but recognized that it was the same being as the undead that had helped her people fight against the Dragonmaw orc clan.

"It's beautiful…" Lily looked at the majestic creature; it was her first time seeing a dragon of any type. "It actually lets you ride it?"

"When you adventure, you come across amazing beings and amazing things." Mithelidan climbed onto the saddle.

"Wow… If only to see things like this for myself, I wouldn't care about fear or indecency. I'll have to get started when we go back." Lily found a reason that she might be cut out of a life of adventuring.

"You never cease to amaze me, old friend." Ranilok commented as Mithelidan climbed into the saddle.

"Thank you. Now, we have a naaru to save." Mithelidan leaned over to whisper to his drake, Obsidia. "Fly high and fly wide."

The beast agreed with Mithelidan in draconic and then took off with lightning speed to get above the range of the elves' spells. Looking to the sky, the elves tried to shoot at the drake, but fell miserably short of their target. Obsidia dodged left and right to avoid the guards on the tower that were still capable of reaching her. Sighting the glowing prison on one of the platforms, the elf directed his drake towards it.

At about the same time as Mithelidan took off, the elves reached the rune of teleportation from which they could cast the spell to reach the prison platform. The guards ran back down the tower to join the ranks while the lieutenant that had lead the magisters up ordered them onto the rune continuously.

"Quickly! Get on the symbol and make ready to transport the prisoner!" he followed them in after the last one had gone through. Appearing on the platform, the overconfident blood elf continued. "You thought you could stage such an escape attempt, but none can match the mi…"

The elf could not finish his sentence before Obsidia burned him with shadowy flame and smacked him off of the platform with the chains that she had pull off of Cin'donia. All of the other elves that had teleported to the prison met a similar fate, subject to gravity despite their powers.

"That's the last of them. Do you have a good hold, Cin'donia?" Mithelidan asked back to the freed prisoner.

"I think so. I am weak from fighting them off." Nia held onto Mithelidan as he steered the netherdrake off of the platform and away from the battle.

About halfway to the holdout spot where the blockade was holding the rest of the group, Obsidia suddenly shrieked in pain. An elf from the tower had landed a powerful spell into the dragon's side, also striking Cin'donia.

"They've hit me badly, I must land!" Obsidia called out to Mithelidan as she flew for the holdout spot instead of beyond the battle.

On the way down, they could not avoid dipping into spell range. The entire blockade fired upon them, landing numerous hits against the three before the netherdrake skidded harshly into ground and threw both Cin'donia and Mithelidan off of her. Xainia quickly ran to her former master and healed him while Gevran tended to the drake. Both of the priests turned to Cin'donia next and were simultaneously stumped.

"Mah spells ah not workin!" Xainia continued to try and cast spells on the naaru-elf.

"Aye, mine nae workin either." Gevran wasted his energy on his most powerful spells to no avail.

Before they could dote over her for too long, Ranilok reached them and took hold of Cin'donia. The naaru-elf was burned on her arms and had been clipped by an arrow through the thigh. The arrow had hit something severe as a large amount of the blue sparkling liquid that served as her blood was pouring from her leg and coating her clothing and the ground. Picking her up, Ranilok ran away from the town to try and find safe cover. The rest of the group followed him quickly, hoping that the blood elves would not charge from their blockade to pursue.

Ranilok stopped a distance away, holding her and starting to weep. "The spells don't work. I won't lose you like this!"

"Ranilok…" Nia reached up for her creator. "Death is a natural part of life… I've lived for eons, I do not fear death."

"I care for you! I can't just let you die. You've helped me so much. If it wasn't for you, I would never have learned anything." Ranilok pleaded with her as he tore of a piece of his robe and tried to tie it above the wound on her leg.

Catching up to him, Mithelidan spoke quickly. "Ranilok, you're not going to have any chance of saving her if you run from us and sit here. She's a naaru at heart, take her to A'dal."

Still hopeless, Ranilok held Cin'donia tighter. "I'll never make it in time. It would take days and days of travel from here to go that far across Outland."

"Obsidia, can you fly?" Mithelidan turned to his drake, which had been fully healed by the spells of Gevran and Xainia. "I need you to take them to Shattrath and wait for me there." The drake nodded as Mithelidan almost domineeringly pulled Ranilok to the drake. "Fly quickly, as if the dragonmaw were chasing you. You will be safe in Shattrath until I arrive."

Saving the day a second time, the drake took off quickly and flew west with the pair. Ranilok held Cin'donia in front of him on the saddle, trying to keep her supported as she faded to and from consciousness. As they moved past the trees at blinding pace, Ranilok thought of Cin'donia; she was so willing to sacrifice herself for a good cause. Ranilok had learned dedication and restraint from the nerubians, but was he being greedy to try and keep Cin'donia in this world? Was everyone who tried to prevent death greedy? The elf knew that he loved Cin'donia more than he could express; she embodied everything that he now aspired towards being. Was love a permissible greed?

Before Ranilok could answer all of these questions, he suddenly noticed that there were no longer trees around him. The netherdrake had stopped flying and was looking around in a bewildered fashion. The three were on the ground, but nothing was around them except white. There was no way that they could have traveled far enough to reach Shattrath in such a short time. As Ranilok got off of the drake and sat on the ground with Cin'donia, the blue blood from her veins continued to seep onto the blank ground. Everything around them was dead silent, not even the sound of air moving was in the area.

The melody of a naaru's voice filled both Ranilok and Cin'donia's minds, waking Cin'donia from the unconsciousness that her injury had put her into. "Greetings, Ranilok." The voice spoke to him.

"A'dal? Is that you, A'dal? How did we reach you? We couldn't have traveled that quickly." Ranilok looked around, not seeing the source of the voice.

"I sensed the one that you carry with you beginning to pass and I have summoned you to a place where you will be safe. Time has no meaning in this place." A'dal continued.

"Thank you." Ranilok knew that a naaru would at least recognize the gesture that mortal races made towards each other.

"I see into your mind and I see the struggle that you have been engaged in. You have freed a sister of our race that we have thought lost in the depths of time. I thank you in return for bringing her to us, even if she is without her true body." The powerful naaru switched his focus to Cin'donia. "Cin'donia, can you hear me?"

"A'dal." The woman spoke weakly, but not using her voice. The naaru-elf spoke using her mind, allowing Ranilok to hear her also. The melody that her voice carried was sweeter and more symphonic than any that the elf had ever heard. "It has been long since I have heard your thoughts, A'dal. You must free M'uru! He is captured underneath Silvermoon."

"We are aware of this perversion and we will free him soon." A'dal informed Nia. "Why did you try to rescue him alone?"

"I thought it had to be done. I couldn't continue if I couldn't say that I did something to help. I wasn't alone anyway, Ranilok helped me." Nia looked at Ranilok and smiled softly. "I am weakened, I cannot hold onto this world much longer. This form was badly damaged by our enemies."

"Can you heal Nia? Our priests can do nothing because of her nature." Ranilok looked all around for something to plead to.

Though the elf's searching for him was amusing, A'dal was still serious and caring for the situation. "You need not try to find me, Ranilok; I am everywhere in this place. I can heal 'Nia' as you have seen fit to call her, but I must ask her a question that only she may answer." The naaru changed his focus to his kin again. "Cin'donia, I have the power within me to restore your true form. Your soul has remained intact throughout the ages, and has strength to carry on for eons to come. I offer you this option, along with the option of retaining your current form. This is your own choice, and neither of us will force you. Think of the role that you wish to play in the world and choose your future."

Able to move in this frozen moment of time, Cin'donia sat up to think of what she would do. On one side of the choice, she was being offered the chance to become a true naaru once more and join her kin in battle against the darkness. On the other side, she had told Ranilok that she loved him. In this new form, Cin'donia had learned more from the emotions that were tied to her form than she had ever learned as a naaru. Ranilok had changed from a greedy and corrupt elf to someone who truly understood what love and trust were. The elf had trusted her so much that he even helped her in a plan that he had known to be folly and that she now saw as foolish. The decision roamed through Cin'donia's thoughts for what seemed to be an interminable amount of time.

"I am unsure, A'dal." Cin'donia began. "I have learned so much in this form, felt so many feelings that our kin are never plagued or graced by. I know what it is to express warmth and love physically as we have observed from other races in the past. Despite this, the opportunity to be among our kin again calls to me. I could serve our cause so well with my knowledge."

"This is why I have left the decision to you, sister naaru." A'dal waited patiently for Cin'donia to choose to continue as the naaru Cin'donia or the elf-bodied 'Nia'.

"Ranilok." Nia turned to him, crawling over weakly and hugging him. "You've done so much for me too. You haven't been the only one that learned from our relationship. I know what I must do, and I don't know whether I'll regret this in the future."

"It's ok. I love you, and that means that if your choice takes you away from me, as much as I might miss you, I will still be happy for you. I want the same thing that you want when it comes to your choice." Ranilok felt saddened deep inside that Cin'donia seemed to be leaving him, but he knew that she would always be with him no matter how she appeared. His love for her ran deeper than her form, deeper than anything he had felt before.

"Very well." A'dal read the choice from Cin'donia's mind. "You all must leave this place now and continue with existence. Goodbye."

Time resumed for those that had been drawn in by A'dal and they were sitting in one of the many empty camps within Shattrath City. Ranilok looked around and saw Obsidia first, the drake had fallen asleep to the sound of A'dal's voice almost as soon as they had entered the strange place that the naaru had brought them to. Sighing, Ranilok knew what Cin'donia had chosen and then turned the other direction to look around the rest of the camp.

"Nia!" The fire mage saw her lying on the ground beside him, healed from her wounds. Immidiately pulling her up and hugging her, Ranilok felt his love hold him in return. "I thought you had chosen to go with A'dal."

"I couldn't." Nia looked at Ranilok lovingly as she pulled away to be able to look him in the eyes. "You've changed so much for me; I wanted to change for you. When I was dying there, all I could think about was you. I've cared about many as a naaru, but I've never found myself overcome with such a singular love as I've found for you."

As the two sat there in the camp, the rest of their companions made it into the edge of the abandoned camp. They had traveled by gryphon from the alliance base near Firewing Point after convincing the guards that Xainia and Lily were prisoners of theirs; having blue eyes was a great protection when near the alliance and elvish. The group watched Ranilok and Nia silently, glad that both of them were ok.

"Brings ae tear tae me eye." Gevran whispered to the others quietly as they watched.

Obsidia rose and walked back to Mithelidan as he put an arm around Arisia, proud that Ranilok had come so far with only the simple pact that was made with Neru'Rekan. Xainia was amazed at the pair also, glad that everyone had found a happy ending along with her former master. Lily and Xainia both looked on as the group did, giving as much time to the couple as they would want.

"Will you stay with me? We'll find a place where we can live in peace, away from the blood elves." Ranilok tried to think of the future, as he had in Nerub'Itjahz, happy that Cin'donia had chosen him.

"I love you, Ranilok. Wherever we go, we'll go together. Thank you for saving me and showing me this life." Cin'donia leaned in and kissed Ranilok. The kiss was not as sudden as the first time that they had kissed, but it was their first real kiss; their expression of love for each other.

Both of them had changed for the better for the other. Ranilok had realized that the greed and pride of the blood elves were folly that would have led him to doom, and Cin'donia had learned that as much as one can be holy and all caring, the feelings that were attached to an imperfect life were worth more than even the greatest victory over the darkness. In the many eyes of Nerub, they were both fools, but for them love was truly the center of life.


End file.
